MI3RARY 

^   OF  Tit K 

UNIVERSITY-OF  CALIFORNIA.. 

FT  01-" 

Mrs.  SARAH  P.  WALSWORTH. 

Received  October,  1894. 
No.  5*73.3$.     Class  No. 


PLAIN   AND   PLEASANT   TALK 


AliCUT 


Fruits,   Flowers    and    Farming. 


BY  IIENKY  WAED  BEECHER. 


NEW   YORK- 
DERBY    &  JACKSON   119   NASSAU   STREET. 
1859. 


EmtKiD  according  to  Act  of  C«agr*«,  in  Uie  year  1859,  by 
HENRY    WARD    BE  EC  HER, 

h  U»  CUik'a  Office  of  lb«  Dbtriet  Court  of  the  UnUed  State*  f»r  the  Southern  District  of 
Now  York. 


OKO.    Kl-MKLL   ft   CO.,  BUMKKTILLB  &  Bit 

8t*r«otj-p«r.  Printer*.  BiuUere. 


UHIVBRSITT 


No  one  of  our  readers  will  be  half  so  curious  to  know 
what  this  book  contains  as  the  author  himself.  For  it  is 
more  than  twelve  years  since  these  pieces  were  begun,  and 
it  is  more  than  ten  years  since  we  have  looked  at  them. 
The  publishers  have  taken  the  trouble  to  dig  them  out  from 
what  we  supposed  to  be  their  lasting  burial-place,  in  the 
columns  of  the  Western  Farmer  and  Gardener,  and  they 
have  gone  through  the  press  without  our  own  revision. 

It  is  now  twenty  years  since  we  settled  at  Indianapolis,  the 
capital  of  Indiana,  a  place  then  of  four,  and  now  of  twenty- 
Jive  thousand  inhabitants.  At  that  tune,  and  for  years 
afterward,  there  was  not,  within  our  knowledge,  any  other 
than  political  newspapers  in  the  State — no  educational 
journals,  no  agricultural  or  family  papers.  The  Indiana 
Journal  at  length  proposed  to  introduce  an  agricultural 
department,  the  matter  of  which  should  every  month 
be  printed,  in  magazine  form,  under  the  title,  Indiana 
Farmer  and  Gardener,  which  was  afterward  changed  to 
the  more  comprehensive  title,  Western  Farmer  and  Gardener. 

iii 


IT  PREFATORY. 

It  may  be  of  some  service  to  the  young,  as  showing  how 
valuable  the  fragments  of  time  may  become,  if  incut  ion  is 
made  of  the^  way  in  which  we  Ix-came  prepared  to  nlii  this 
journal. 

The  continued  taxation  of  daily  pivai'hing,  extending 
through  months,  and  once  through  eighteen  consecutive 
months,  without  the  exception  of  a  single  day,  began  to 
wear  upon  the  nerves,  and  made  it  necessary  for  us  to  seek 
some  relaxation.  Accordingly  we  used,  after  each  week- 
night's  preaching,  to  drive  the  sermon  out  of  our  heads 
by  some  alterative  reading. 

In  the  State  Library  were  Loudon's  works — his  encyclo- 
pedias of  Horticulture,  of  Agriculture,  and  of  Architecture. 
We  fell  upon  them,  and,  for  years,  almost  monopolized  them. 

In  our  little  one-story  cottage,  after  the  day's  work  was 
done,  we  pored  over  these  monuments  of  an  almost  incredi- 
ble industry,  and  read,  we  suppose,  not  only  every  line,  but 
much  of  it,  many  times  over  ;  until,  at  length,  we  had  a 
topographical  knowledge  of  many  of  the  fine  English  estates 
— quite  as  intimate,  we  dare  say,  as  was  possessed  by  many 
of  their  truant  owners.  There  was  something  exceedingly 
pleasant,  and  is  yet,  in  the  studying  over  mere  catalogues 
of  flowers,  trees,  fruits,  etc. 

A  seedsman's  list,  a  nurseryman's  catalogue,  are  more 
fascinating  to  us  than  any  story.  In  this  way,  through 
several  years,  we  gradually  accumulated  materials  and 
became  familiar  with  facts  and  principles,  which  paved  the 
way  for  our  editorial  labors.  Lindley's  Horticulture  and 
Gray's  Structural  Botany  came  in  as  constant  companions. 
And  when,  at  length,  through  a  friend's  liberah'ty,  we  be- 


PBEFATOKY.  7 

came  the  recipients  of  the  London  Gardener's  Chronide, 
edited  by  Prof.  Lindley,  our  treasures  were  inestimable. 
Afany  hundred  times  have  we  lain  awake  for  hours,  unable 
to  throw  off  the  excitement  of  preaching,  and  beguiling 
the  time  with  imaginary  visits  to  the  Chiswick  Garden,  to 
the  more  than  oriental  magnificence  of  the  Duke  of  Devon- 
shire's grounds  at  Chatsworth.  We  have  had  long  discus- 
sions, in  that  little  bedroom  at  Indianapolis,  with  Yan 
Mons  about  pears,  with  Vibert  about  roses,  with  Thompson 
and  Knight  of  fruits  and  theories  /of  vegetable  life,  and 
with  London  about  everything  under  the  heavens  in  the 
horticultural  world. 

This  employment  of  waste  hours  not  only  answered  a 
purpose  of  soothing  excited  nerves  then,  but  brought  us 
into  such  relations  to  the  material  world,  that,  we  speak 
with  entire  moderation,  when  we  say  that  all  the  estates 
of  the  richest  duke  in  England  could  not  have  given  us 
half  the  pleasure  which  we  have  derived  from  pastures, 
waysides,  and  unoccupied  prairies. 

If,  when  the  readers  of  this  book  shall  have  finished  it, 
they  shall  say,  that  these  papers,  well  enough  for  the  cir- 
cumstances in  which  they  originally  appeared,  have  no  such 
merit  as  to  justify  their  republication  in  a  book  form,  we  beg 
leave  to  tell  them  that  their  judgment  is  not  original.  It  is 
just  what  we  thought  ourselves  1  But  Publishers  are  willful, 
and  must  be  obeyed  ! 

HENRY  WARD   BEECHER. 
BROOKLYN,  June  1, 1859. 


CONTENTS. 


Preliminary 9 

Our  Creed 10 

Almanac  for  the  Year 11 

Educated  Farmers 20 

A n  Acre  of  Words  about  Aker 23 

Farmer's  Library 27 

Nine  Mistakes    29 

Agricultural  Societies 80 

Shiftless  Tricks 33 

Electro  Culture 86 

Single  Crop  Farming 39 

Improved  Breeds  of  Hogs  and  Cattle.  41 

Absorbent  Qualities  of  Flour 44 

Portrait  of  an  Anti-Book  Farmer 46 

Good  Breeds  of  Cows 50 

Cutting  and  Curing  Grass 53 

Country  and  City 65 

Lime  upon  Wheat 56 

Culture  of  Hops 68 

White  Clover 60 

Plowing  Corn 61 

Clean  out  your  Cellars 64 

When  is  Haying  over  ? 66 

Laying  down  Land  to  Grass 67 

Theory  of  Manure 71 

Fodder  for  Cattle 73 

The  Science  of  Bad  Butter 75 

Cincinnati,  the  Queen  City 79 

Care  of  Animals  In  Winter 83, 1G5 

Winter  Nights  for  Reading 85 

Feathers 65 

Nail  up  your  Bugs 87 

Ashes  and  their  Use 90 

Hard  Times ...  .02 


Gypsum 93 

Acclimating  a  Plow 93 

Scour  your  Plows  Bright 95 

Plow  till  it  is  Dry  and  Plow  till  it  is  Wat.    96 

Stirring  the  Soil 97 

Subsoil  Plowing 93 

Fire-Blight  and  Winter  Tilling 99 

Winter  Talk 101 

"  Shut  your  Mouth  " 103 

Spring  Work  on  the  Farm 104 

Spring  Work  in  the  Garden 107,  214 

Fall  Work  in  the  Garden 112 

Guarding  Cherry-trees  from  Cold 113 

Shade  Trees 114,  174 

A  Plea  for  Health  and  Floriculture. .  117 

Keeping  Young  Pigs  in  Winter 120 

Sweet  Potatoes 121 

Management  of  Bottom  Lands  121 

Cultivation  of  Wheat 124 

Pleasures  of  Horticulture 136 

Practical  Use  of  Leaves 187 

Spring  Work  for  Public-spirited  Men  .  140 
Farmers  and  Farm  Scenes  in  the  West .  142 

Ornamental  Shrubs 14<J 

Gooseberries 140 

Pulling  off  Potato  Blossoms 151 

Blading  and  Topping  Corn 1."  -J 

Maple  Sugar 153 

Lettuce l.VJ 

Geological  Definitions 160 

Draining  Wet  Lands 162 

Oh  dear!  shall  we  ever  be  done  Lying  ? .  1 61 

Peep  Planting IT," 

C«rn  and  Millet  for  Fodder 167 


Till 


<  ONTKNTi. 


fACE    | 


Rhubarb 170,  203 

Pew 17.' 

Hot-beds 175 

Original  Recipe 176 

Cooking  Vegetables ITS 

Fanners,  take  a  Hint 1  -.' 

Mixing  Paint  and  Laying  it  on 1S4 

Garden  Weeds 1 89 

Lucerne 191 

Family  Government 192 

List  of  Flowers,  Seeds,  and  Fruita. ...  193 

Garden  Seeds 196 

Farmers'  Gardens 199 

Early  Days  of  Spring 201 

Parlor  Flowers 202 

Recipe 208 

Culture  of  Celery 204 

Sun-flower  Seed 212 

Rich  and  Poor  Land 216 

Getting  ready  for  Winter 217 

feculent  Vegetables. 219 

Field  Root  Crops 225 

Cultivation  of  Fruit-treea 226 

*  List  of  Choice  Fruita 283 

The  Nursery  Business 241 

The  Breeding  of  Fruits 244 

Pruning  Orchards 249 

Slitting  the  Bark  of  Trees 252 

Downing'*  Fruita  of  America 254 

Letter  from  A.  J.  Downing 2G1 

Attention  to  Orchards . .  266 

Wine  and  Horticulture 268 

Do  Varieties  of  Fruit  Run  out  ? 271 

Strawberries 275,  281,  286 

Raspberries,  Gooseberries,  Currants  . .  2S6 

Spring  Work  in  the  Orchard 2S9 

Grapes  and  Grape  Vines 294,  295 


Autumnal  Management  of  Fruit-treea.  396 
Pears  Grafted  upon  the  Apple  Stock  .  21*8 

Seedlings  from  Budded  Peaches 800 

Care  of  Peach-tree* 803 

Renovating  Peach-trees 304 

An  Apologue  or  Apple-logue 306 

Select  List  of  Apples 807 

Origin  of  some  varieties  of  Fruit 823 

The  Quince 826 

Cutting  and  Keeping  Grafts  826 

Frost  Blight 827 

Seedling  Fruits 829 

Time  for  Pruning 833 

Plums  and  their  Enemies 835 

Root  Grafting 33U 

Blight  and  Insects 841 

Apples  for  Hogs 846 

The  Flower  Garden 847 

Preparation  of  Seed  for  Sowing 851 

Sowing  Flower  Seeds — Transplanting.  853 
Parlor  Plants  and  Flowers  in  Wint . 

Protecting  Plants  in  Winter 3C1 

To  Preserve  Dahlia  Roots 862 

Hedges 863 

Watering  Trees,  etc 865 

Labels  for  Trees SCO 

Transplanting  Evergreens 8G7 

Flowers,  Ladies  and  Angels 868 

Horticultural  Curiosities 369 

The  Corn  Crop 373 

Potato  Crop 3Si 

Potting  Garden  Plants  for  Winter  Use  890 

Mary  Hewitt's  Use  of  Flowers 391 

What  are  Flowers  good  for 392 

The  Blight  in  the  Pear-tree 393 

Progress  of  Horticulture  in  Indiana. .  411 

Browne's  Poultry  Yard 417 

Close  of  the  Year  ...  . .  420 


PLAIN  AND  PLEASANT  TALK 


ABOUT 


FRUIT,   FLOWERS  AND   FARMING. 


PRELIMINARY. 


WE  understand  very  well  that  every  region  must  fashion 
its  system  of  agriculture  upon  the  nature  of  its  soil,  its  cli- 
mate, etc.  The  principles  of  agriculture  may  be  alike  in 
every  zone,  but  the  processes  depend  upon  circumstances. 
It  would  be  folly  for  a  new  country,  without  commerce,  to 
imitate  an  old  country  with  an  active  commerce ;  it  would 
be  folly,  where  land  is  cheap,  abundant,  and  naturally  fer- 
tile, to  adopt  the  habits  of  those  who  are  stinted  in  lands, 
who  have  a  redundant  population,  and  who  find  a  market 
for  even  the  weeds  which  are  indigenous  to  the  soil.  The 
husbandry  of  Holland  is  suited  to  a  wet  soil,  and  of  Eng- 
land to  a  humid  atmosphere  and  a  very  even  annual  tem- 
perature. But  our  soil  is  subject  to  extreme  wet  in  spring 
and  dryness  in  summer,  to  severe  cold  and  intense  heat.  A 
farm  whose  bottom-lands  are  reinvigorated  by  yearly  inun- 
dations, may  thrive  under  an  exacting  husbandry  that  would 
exhaust  an  upland  farm  in  a  few  years.  Modes  of  agricul- 
ture must  be  suited  to  circumstances.  Nevertheless,  the 
experiments  and  discoveries  and  practices  of  every  land  are 
worth  our  careful  attention.  We  do  not  import  clothes — 


10  PLAIN  AND   PLEASANT  TALK 

but  wo  do  doth)  to  be  made  up  to  suit  our  own  habits  and 
wants. 

The  two  extremes  of  husbandry  arc,  the  adoption  of 
y  novelty  and  every  experiment  indiscriminately,  and 
the  rejection  of  every  new  thing  and  every  improvement,  as 
indiscriminately.  Wisdom  consists  in  "  proving  all  things 
and  holding  fast  that  which  is  good."  We  do  not  advocate 
large  outlays  for  expensive  machines — for  fancy  cattle;  for 
every  new  thing  that  turns  up.  But  when,  after  full  trial, 
it  is  ascertained  what  are  the  best  farm  horses,  the  best 
breed  of  cattle,  the  best  milch  cows,  the  most  profitable 
breed  of  hogs  and  sheep,  and  the  most  skillful  routine  of 
cultivation,  we  think  our  farmers  ought  to  profit  by  the 
knowledge.  It  is  never  a  good  economy  to  have  poor 
things  when  you  can  just  as  well  have  the  best.  This,  then,  is 

OUR  CREED. 

We  believe  in  small  farms  and  thorough  cultivation. 

We  believe  that  soil  loves  to  eat,  as  well  as  its  owner, 
and  ought,  therefore,  to  be  manured. 

We  believe  in  large  crops  which  leave  the  land  better 
than  they  found  it — making  both  the  farmer  and  the  farm 
rich  at  once. 

We  believe  in  going  to  the  bottom  of  things  and,  there- 
fore, in  deep  plowing,  and  enough  of  it.  All  the  better  if 
with  a  sub-soil  plow. 

We  believe  that  every  farm  should  own  a  good  farmer. 

We  believe  that  the  best  fertilizer  of  any  soil,  is  a  spirit 
of  industry,  enterprise,  and  intelligence — without  this,  lime 
and  gypsum,  bones  and  green  manure,  marl  and  guano  will 
be  of  little  use. 

We  believe  in  good  fences,  good  barns,  good  farmhouses, 
good  stock,  good  orchards,  and  children  enough  to  gather 
the  fruit. 

We  believe  in  a  clean  kitchen,  a  neat  wife  in  it,  a  spin- 


ABOUT  FRUITS,    FLOWERS   AND   FARMING.  11 

ning-piano,  a  clean  cupboard,  a  clean  dairy,  and  a  clean  con- 
science. 

We  firmly  disbelieve  in  farmers  that  will  not  improve ; 
in  farms  that  grow  poorer  every  year ;  in  starveling  cattle  ; 
in  farmers'  boys  turning  into  clerks  and  merchants ;  in 
farmers'  daughters  unwilling  to  work,  and  in  all  farmers 
ashamed  of  their  vocation,  or  who  drink  whisky  till  honest 
people  are  ashamed  of  them. 


ALMANAC    FOR   THE  YEAR. 

1.  WORK  FOR  JANUARY. — If  you  have  done  as  you  ought 
to  have  done,  you  have  a  snug  ice-house,  with  double  walls, 
the  space  between  which  is  filled  with  non-conducting  sub- 
stances, as  pulverized  charcoal,  or  dried  saw-dust,  or  tan- 
bark,  which  are  mentioned  in  the  order  of  their  value.  Cut 
your  blocks  of  ice  of  a  size  and  shape  with  reference  to 
close  packing.  Cover  over  thickly  with  clean  straw  when 
the  stock  of  ice  is  all  in.  Look  out  not  to  lose  all  your 
chance  in  waiting  for  a  better  one ;  sometimes  careful  folks 
mean  to  have  such  glorious  ice,  that  an  open  winter  cheats 
them  out  of  any  at  all. 

WARMTH. — The  best  fire  in  winter  is  made  up  of  exercise, 
and  the  poorest,  of  whisky.  He  that  keeps  warm  on  liquor 
is  like  a  man  who  pulls  his  house  to  pieces  to  feed  the  fire 
place.  The  prudent  and  temperate  use  of  liquor  is  to  let  it 
alone.  If  you  don't  touch  it,  it  certainly  won't  hurt  you ; 
he  that  says  there  is  no  danger,  boasts  that  he  is  something 
more  than  other  men. 

The  way  to  summer  your  cattle  well  is  to  winter  them 
well ;  and  half  the  secret  of  good  wintering  is  to  keep  them 
warm.  Animal  heat  is  generated  in  proportion  to  the  abun- 
dance and  excellence  of  their  food.  Exposure  to  the  cold 
air  withdraws  heat  rapidly,  and  of  course  makes  more  food 


12  PLAIN  AND  PLEASANT  TALK 

necessary  to  re-supply  it,  just  as  an  open  door  makes  it 
necessary  to  have  more  wood  in  the  stove.  If  your  stock 
run  down  in  the  winter  and  come  out  lean  and  feeble,  all 
the  summer  will  not  fully  bring  them  up  again. 

2.  WORK  FOB  FEBRUARY. — Get  out  rails,  both  for  present 
use,  and  for  the  fence  which  you  expect  to  lay  in  ]\Iun -h  and 
April.     Cut,  haul  ao^atack  up  near  your  house  a  good  sup- 
ply of  firer-wood  j  no  matter  if  the  forest  is  within  ten  rods 
of  your  door,  your  wife  ought  to  have  her  wood  chopped 
and  dried  ready  for  use.     Look  at  every  fence  upon  the 
place ;  see  if  the  corners  of  your  rail  fences  are  rotting 
down ;  if  some  rails  have  not  broken ;  if  pig-holes  have  not 
been  made  ;  if  boys  and  cattle  have  not  thrown  down  top- 
rails  ;  and  in  short,  put  your  fences  into  proper  repair. 

Of  course  your  tools  will  now  be  overhauled ;  those 
with  steel  blades  should  be  thoroughly  cleansed  when  laid 
aside  in  the  fall,  and  if  you  rub  a  little  oil  over  them  and 
hang  them  up,  all  the  better.  Repair  all  that  are  out  of 
order.  These  things  and  all  your  ordinary  work,  may  be 
done,  and  still  leave  you  leisure  for  reading.  You  should 
have  good  books  and  good  papers,  and  read  them  carefully 
for  your  own  sake  and  for  your  children's.  A  man  who 
brings  up  a  family  of  ignorant  children,  cheats  his  children 
of  their  rights,  and  cheats  his  country  of  its  rights ;  it  is 
therefore  a  crime. 

GARDEN  WORK. — If  there  be  no  snow  on  the  ground, 
the  gardens  may  be  cleared  of  all  rubbish,  manure  hauled 
and  stacked  carefully ;  and  if  you  have  a  clay  soil,  and  can 
catch  the  ground  without  frost  for  a  few  days,  it  will  mel- 
low and  ameliorate  it  to  spade  it  up,  leaving  it  in  lumps  and 
heaps,  through  which  the  frost  may  thoroughly  penetrate. 

It  is  time  to  prepare  your  hot-bed,  if  you  design  having 
early  plants  in  your  garden. 

3.  WORK  FOR  MARCH. — Begin  the  year  by  thorough,  deep 
plowing,  where  your  fields  are  in  good  order  for  it.     De- 
pend upon  it,  that  deep  plowing  is  the  only  good  plowing. 


ABOUT   FRUITS,    FLOWERS   AND   FARMING.  13 

Your  first  crop ,  generally,  will  tell  you  so.  But  if  the  sub- 
soil is  such  that  the  first  crop  is  rather  poor,  a  year's  expo- 
sure of  the  land  will  ameliorate  it  so  that  your  second 
crop  will  remunerate  all  expenses  of  time  and  labor  laid  out 
in  deep  plowing.  No  farmer  should  be  without  a  sub- 
soil plow  who  has  got  his  lands  clear  of  stumps  and 
roots. 

Take  especial  care  of  cows  now  just  coming  in  with  calf. 
See  that  those  which  are  heavy  are  carefully  handled,  well 
fed,  and  warmly  sheltered.  Mares  with  foal  should  be  ten- 
derly used,  exercised  a  little,  but  not  put  to  hard  or  strain- 
ing work.  The  condition  of  the  mother  will  to  a  great 
extent  determine  the  condition  of  the  offspring.  Cows, 
mares,  sows,  ewes,  etc.  etc.,  should  be  kept  in  a  hearty  con- 
dition, without  being  fat. 

ORCHARD. — Do  not  trouble  your  trees  with  premature 
pruning.  Let  the  axe,  and  knife,  and  saw  alone.  Loosen 
the  dirt  or  sod  around  and  beneath  your  trees.  The  best 
manure  for  your  trees  is  fresh  mold,  or  forest  soil  and  lime 
in  the  proportion  of  about  one  part  to  ten.  Take  soft  soap, 
dilute  it  with  urine,  scrub  your  trees  with  it  plentifully, 
having  first  scraped  off  all  rough  bark.  If  you  would  work 
easily  always,  never  let  your  work  drive  you. 

4.  WORK  FOR  APRIL. — Gather  from  your  barn  the  loose 
hay  seed,  and  sow  it  upon  your  wheat  fields ;  it  will  give 
good  pasturage  after  harvest,  and  make  fine  stuff  for  plow- 
ing under.  Push  forward  your  plowing,  but  look  well  to 
the  teams;  as  cattle  and  horses  are  like  men,  unable  in 
early  spring  to  endure  severe  labor  all  at  once.  Your 
spring  wheat  should  be  got  in ;  barley  is  a  better  crop,  usu- 
ally, than  rye.  The  middle  and  last  of  the  month  will  keep 
you  in  the  corn-field.  Plow  deep — plow  thoroughly; 
and  after  planting,  give  the  plow  no  rest,  if  you  wish 
good  corn. 

YOUNG  ANIMALS. — You  will  now  begin  to  have  plenty  of 
calves,  colts,  pigs,  and  lambs.  If  you  mean  to  have  pro- 


14  PLAIN    AM)    PLEASANT  TALK 


thai  »lo  pork,  YOU  oiiirht  to  />wsA  your  pigs  from  the  birth. 
Look  carefully  at\er  your  lambs;  see  that  the  mothers  are 
well  cared  for;  have  dry  and  warm  pens  for  any  that  are 
ic-eblo.  A  little  tenderness  to  the  lambs  will  be  well  repaid 
by  and  by. 

GARDEN.  —  Your  lettuce  may  be  transplanted  from  the 
hot-bed  the  middle  and  last  of  this  month.  A  foot  apart 
is  none  too  much,  if  you  wish  head-lettuce.  Sow  your 
main  supplies  of  radishes,  cabbage,  tomatoes,  etc.  Get 
your  pie-plant  seed  in  early  as  possible  ;  also  carrots,  pars- 
nips, and  salsify  or  oyster-plant.  Prune  your  gooseberries, 
currants,  and  raspberry  bushes.  Grapes,  which  were  not 
laid  in  last  fall  should  be  pruned  and  laid  in  early  in  March  ; 
but  if  neglected  then,  let  them  be  till  the  leaves  are  large 
as  the  palm  of  your  hand.  Look  out  or  worms'  nests,  and 
destroy  them  promptly. 

5.  WORK  FOR  MAY.  —  Your  whole  force  will  be  required  in 
this  month.  If  the  season  has  been  late  or  wet,  you  still 
have  your  corn  to  plant.  Pastures  will  be  ready  for  your 
stock  ;  remember  to  salt  your  stock  every  week.  Weeds 
will  now  do  their  best  to  take  your  crops.  Your  potato 
crop  should  be  put  in,  as  there  will  be  little  danger  of  frost. 
After  the  15th,  you  may  put  out  sweet  potato  slips.  If 
you  have  not  grass-land  for  pasturage,  try  for  one  season 
the  system  of  soiling,  i.  e.  keeping  up  your  cattle  in 
the  yard  or  home-lot,  and  cutting  green-fodder  for  them 
every  day.  An  acre  or  two  of  corn,  sown  broad-cast,  or 
oats  and  millet,  should  be  tried.  Above  all  other  things,  if 
you  have  warm,  deep  sandy  loam,  put  in  an  acre  of  lucerne. 

During  the  last  of  this  month,  and  at  the  beginning  of 
the  next,  pruning  may  be  done.  If  the  limbs  be  large, 
cover  the  stump  with  a  coat  of  paint,  wax,  grafting  clay,  or 
anything  that  will  exclude  air  and  wet. 

The  garden  will  require  extra  labor  in  all  this  month. 
After  the  15th,  tender  bulbs  and  tubers  may  be  planted, 
dahlias,  amaryllises,  tuberoses,  etc.  Peas  will  require  brush; 


ABOUT   FBUI1S,   FLOWERS    AND   FARMING.  15 

all  your  plants  from  the  hot-bed  should  by  this  time  be  well 
a  growing  in  open  air.  Roses  will  be  showing  their  buds. 
It'  large  roses  of  a  favorite  sort  are  required,  more  than  half 
the  buds  should  be  taken  off,  and  the  whole  strength  of  the 
plant  be  given  to  the  remainder.  The  soil  for  this  best  of 
all  flowers,  cannot  be  too  rich,  nortoo  deep. 

6.  WORK  FOR  JUNE. — May,  June,  and  September  are  the 
dairy  months.    The  best  butter  and  the  best  cheese  are 
usually  made  in  these  months.     If  you  are  not  neat,  you 
do  not  know  how  to  make  cheese  or  butter.     Uncleanliness 
affects  not  only  the  looks,  but  the  quality  of  butter.    Broad, 
shallow  glass  pans  are  the  best,  but  the  most  expensive.     In 
these  milk  seldom  turns  sour  in  summer  thunder-storms. 
Tin  pans  are  good,  but  unless  the  dairy-woman  is  scrupu- 
lously neat,  the  seams  will  be  filled  with  residuum  of  milk 
and  become  very  foul,  giving  a  flavor  to  each  successive 
panful.      The    principal   requisites  for    prime  butter  are, 
good  cows,  good  pasture  for  them,  clean  pans,  cool,  airy 
cellars,  clean  churns.     Let  the  cream  be  churned  before  it 
is  sour  or  bitter ;  and  when  the  butter  comes,  at  least  three 
thorough  workings  will  be  necessary  to  drive  out  all  the 
butter-milk. 

GARDEN. — Transplant  flowers;  destroy  all  weeds;  get 
out  cabbages;  more  lettuce;  get  ready  celery  trenches; 
layer  favorite  roses,  vines,  etc. ;  examine  and  remove  from 
the  peach-tree  root,  the  grub  which  is  destroying  them. 
Sow  salt  under  plum-trees — put  on  a  coat  two  inches 
thick. 

Transplant  flowers ;  bud  roses  with  fine  kinds ;  see  that 
large  plants  are  tied  neatly  to  frames  or  stakes.  Every 
morning  examine  your  beds  of  cabbage,  etc.,  for  cut-worms, 
and  destroy  them  if  found  ;  plant  succession  crops  of  peas, 
corn,  radishes,  lettuce,  etc. 

7.  WORK  FOR  JULY. — Great  difference  of  practice  and 
opinion  exists  as  to  the  methods  and  time  of  harvesting. 
Some  cut  their  grass  while  the  dew  is  on  it ;  others  cut  it 


16  PLAIN   AND   PLEASANT  TALK 

when  perfectly  dry,  and  say  that  if  so  cut  it  need  not  be 
1,  l»ut  will  dry  in  the  swath  in  one  or  two  days.  As 
to  the  time  of  cutting  grass,  we  should  avoid  both  ex- 
tremes of  very  early  or  very  late.  Just  before  the  seed  of 
•'///  is  rijie,  is,  upon  the  whole,  the  best  time  for  this 
>  for  the  scythe.  Clover  should  be  cut  when 
in  full  blossom ;  instead  of  spreading,  the  best  farmers 
make  it  into  small  cocks  and  leave  it  there  to  cure,  which  it 
will  do  without  shrivelling  or  losing  its  color. 

GARDEN  WORK. — As  soon  as  your  roses  are  done  bloom- 
ing, if  you  wish  to  increase  them,  take  the  young  shoots, 
ami  about  eight  inches  from  the  ground,  cut,  below  an  eye, 
half  through,  and  then  slit  upward  an  inch  or  two  through 
the  pith ;  put  a  bit  of  chip  in  to  keep  the  slit  open ;  bend 
down  the  branch  and  cover  the  portion  thus  operated 
on  with  an  inch  or  two  of  earth  and  put  a  brick  upon 
it.  It  will  soon  send  out  roots,  and  by  October  may  be 
separated  from  the  parent  plant.  Quinces,  gooseberries,  and 
almost  all  shrubs  which  branch  near  the  ground,  may  be 
propagated  in  this  way.  Still  keep  down  weeds.  Sow  suc- 
cessive crops  of  corn,  peas  and  salads,  for  fall  use.  Begin 
to  gather  such  seeds  as  ripen  early.  Take  up  tulips,  hya- 
cinths, etc.,  as  soon  as  the  tops  wither. 

8.  WORK  FOR  AUGUST. — If  during  this  hot  month  you  will 
clear  out  fence  corners,  and  cut  off  vexatious  intruders,  the 
sun  will  do  all  it  can  to  help  you  kill  them.  If  your  wheat 
is  troubled  with  the  weevil,  thrash  it  out  and  leave  it  in  the 
chaff.  It  will  raise  a  heat  fatal  to  its  enemy  without  injur- 
ing itself.  Every  fanner  should  have  a  little  nursery  row 
of  apple,  pear,  peach  and  plums  of  his  own  raising.  Plant 
the  seed ;  when  a  year  old,  transplant  into  rows  eight  indies 
apart  in  the  row  and  two  feet  between  the  rows.  During 
July,  August,  and  September,  you  may  bud  them  with 
choice  sorts,  remembering  that  a  first-rate  fruit  will  live  just 
as  easily  as  a  worthless  sort.  This  is  a  good  month  to  sow 
down  fallow  fields  to  grass.  Plough  thoroughly — harrow 


ABOUT   FJRUI1S,    FLOWKIiS    AM>    FARMING.  17 

till  the  earth  is  fine ;  be  liberal  of  seed,  aiid  cover  in  with 
a  harrow  and  not  with  a  bush,  which  drags  the  seeds  into 
heaps,  or  carries  them  in  hollows.  The  early  part  of  the 
month  should  be  improved  by  ah1  who  wish  to  put  in  a  crop 
of  buck-wheat  or  turnips.  If  your  pastures  are  getting 
short,  let  your  milch  cows  have  something  every  night 
in  the  yard.  Corn,  sown  broadcast,  would  now  render 
admirable  service. 

If  you  have  neglected  to  raise  your  bulbs,  lose  no  time 
now.  Take  cuttings  from  roses  and  put  in  small  pots,  invert 
a  glass  over  them ;  in  two  or  three  weeks  they  will  take 
root,  and  by  the  next  spring  make  good  plants.  Gather 
flower  seeds  as  soon  as  they  ripen. 

9.  WORK  FOB  SEPTEMBER. — You  should  finish  seeding 
your  wheat  grounds  in  this  month.  If  sown  too  early,  it 
is  liable  to  suffer  from  the  fly ;  if  too  late,  from  rust.  Those 
who  sow  acres  by  the  hundred,  must  sow  early  and  late 
both.  But  moderate  fields  should  be  seeded  by  the  mid- 
dle of  this  month.  In  preparing  the  land,  if  the  surface 
does  not  naturally  drain  itself,  it  should  be  so  plowed  as 
to  turn  the  water  into  furrows  between  each  land.  Standing 
water,  and,  yet  more,  ice  upon  it,  being  fatal  to  it.  See 
that  your  cattle  are  brought  into  good  condition  for  winter- 
ing. Fall  transplanting  may  be  performed  from  the  middle 
of  this  month  ;  take  off  every  leaf—  re-set,  and  stake. 

By  the  latter  part  of  the  month,  or  early  in  October, 
according  to  the  season,  it  will  be  necessary  to  raise  and  pot 
such  plants  as  you  intend  to  keep  in  the  house  ;  to  raise  and 
place  in  a  dry  and  frost-proof  room  your  dahlias,  tube- 
roses, amaryllis,  tigridia,  gladioli,  and  such  other  tender 
bulbs  as  you  may  have.  Let  your  seed  be  gathered, 
carefully  put  away  where  it  will  contract  no  moisture.  Go 
over  your  grounds  and  examine  all  your  labels,  lest  the 
storms  which  are  approaching  should  destroy  them.  Sow 
in  some  warm  and  sheltered  part  ^rpr*  ffird™  early  in 
this  month,  for  ^j.rinir  »M-,  -]  :""£fff^"%ijy^t|£f,  etc. 

^T> 

WflRSITYj 

!\    **  .  -* 


18  PLAIN      \M'     I'M. A>VNT    TALK 

As  soon  as  the  leaves  fall,  take  cuttings  from  currant  bushes 
and  grapes,  and  plant  them  out  in  rows.  They  will  start 
off  and  grow  earlier  by  some  six  weeks,  the  next  season. 
Fill  in  your  celery  trenches  every  ten  days. 

10.  WORK  FOR  OCTOBER. — Push  forward  your  hogs  as  fast 
as  possible.     If  they  have  had  a  good  clover  range  in  the 
summer,  they  will  be  ready  to  start  off  vigorously  from  the 
moment  that  you  begin  to  put  them  upon  corn.     See  that 
good  paths  are  made  in  every  direction  from  your  house ; 
and  be  sure  to  have  walks  through  your  barn-yards  raised 
so  high  as  never  to  be  muddy.     Your  cattle-yards  should 
slope  toward  the  centre  in  such  a  way  that  horses  and  cat- 
tle need  not  wade  knee  deep  in  going  in  and  out. 

Frosts  will  now  begin  to  strip  your  trees  and  stop  the 
growth  of  garden  shrubs,  and  all  your  preparations  should 
be  made  for  protecting  tender  trees  and  shrubs.  For 
cherry  and  pear-trees,  especially,  you  should  provide  good 
covering  for  their  trunk,  until  they  have  grown  quite  large. 
A  good  bundle  of  corn-stalks  set  round  the  body  so  as  to 
keep  out  the  sun,  but  not  the  air,  will  answer  every  purpose. 
For  beds  of  China  and  tea,  and  dwarf  roses,  we  advise 
a  covering  of  three  inches  of  half-rotted  manure.  Cover 
this  with  leaves  about  six  inches.  Moss  is  better,  if  you 
will  take  the  trouble  to  collect  it ;  an  d  straw  will  do  if  you 
have  neither  moss  nor  leaves.  Half  cover  the  part  that 
remains  exposed,  with  fine  brush,  or  pine  branches.  For 
single  plants,  drive  a  stake  by  their  side,  and  tie  the  plant 
to  it;  wind  loosely  about  it  a  wisp  of  straw  or  roll 
of  bass  matting,  or  cloth,  so  as  to  exclude  the  sun  and 
not  the  air.  The  sun,  and  not  the  cold,  usually  destroys 
plants. 

11.  WORK  FOR  NOVEMBER. — During  this  month,  if  the 
ground  is  not  locked  by  frost,  you  may  plow  stiff,  tenacious 
clay  soils  to  great  advantage.     By  lu-in^  broken  up  and 
subjected  to  the  keen  frosts,  your  soil  will  become  mellow 
and  tomlcr.     Soe  that  every  provision  is  made  for  shelter- 


ABOUT   FliUITS,    FLOWERS    AND   FARMING.  19 

ing  your  cattle  and  horses ;  be  sure  that  your  sheep  are  not 
obliged  to  lie  out  in  drenching  rains. 

IN  THE  GARDEN  see  that  your  asparagus  bed  is  dressed 
if  neglected  last  month.  House  all  your  brush,  poles, 
stakes,  frames,  etc.,  which  will  be  fit  for  use  another  season. 
If  your  tulips,  hyacinths,  etc.  have  not  been  planted,  you 
had  better  reserve  them  for  spring,  as  they  will  be  liable  to 
rot  in  the  ground  if  planted  so  late  in  the  year.  Cover  with 
brush,  or  leaves,  or  straw,  your  lettuce,  spinage,  and  other 
salad  plants  designed  for  spring  use.  If  tender  plants, 
roses,  vines,  etc.,  have  been  left  unprotected,  cover  as 
directed  last  month.  If  you  have  no  cold  frame  for  half- 
hardy  plants,  they  may  be  laid  in  by  the  heels,  i.  e.,  taken 
up,  and  the  roots  laid  into  a  trench,  the  tops  sloping  at  an 
angle  of  about  twenty  degrees,  and  then  covered  with  earth. 
The  soil  should  cover  about  half  the  stem. 

It  is  now  a  good  season  for  cutting  grafts.  Take  them 
from  the  outside  of  the  middle  of  the  tree  ;  let  them  be  dono 
up  in  small  packages,  and  set  up  endwise  in  the  cellar,  and 
covered  with  about  half-dry  sand.  Roots  may  be  taken 
from  pear  and  apple-trees,  and  packed  in  the  same  way  for 
root-grafting. 

12.  DECEMBER. — The  year  is  about  to  close.  Look  back 
upon  your  toil.  In  what  respect  will  your  year's  labor  bear  an 
approval  when  calmly  examined  ?  Can  you  honestly  acquit 
yourself  of  indolence  and  carelessness?  and  as  honestly  take 
credit  for  enterprise,  activity,  and  a  desire  for  improve- 
ment? Your  barns  are  full — your  granary  is  heavy  with 
grain — the  year's  bounty  has  followed  a  year's  labor,  and  if 
you  have  the  heart  of  a  man  you  will  not  forget  the  source 
whence  your  blessings  have  come.  You  have  perhaps  done 
well  by  your  stock,  and  in  so  far  as  the  body  is  concern o«l, 
for  your  children  ;  but  what  have  you  done  for  their  cdiu-:i- 
tion  ?  What  have  you  done  to  promote  popular  education  ? 
Are  you  doing  anything  to  make  your  neighborhood  bet- 
ter? What  good  newspapers  do  you  provide  for  your  thin- 


•JO  PLAIN   AND   PLEASANT  TALK 

ily  ?  Do  you  lay  out  as  much  money  for  books  as  you  do 
for  tobacco?  In  looking  fonvunl  to  the  next  year,  you 
ought  to  mark  out  your  personal  course  by  good  resolu- 
tions, and  your  business  course  by  a  definite  plan  of  opera- 
tions.  It  would  be  well  if  a  farmer  should  know  before- 
1 1:1  ml  everything  he  means  to  do  ;  and  afterwards,  if  he  has 
kept  such  an  account  that  you  can  tell  anything  that  you 
h:ive  <lone. 

Sleighing  for  the  young  and  gay,  and  warm  fire-sides  for 
the  aged,  are  what  are  now  most  thought  of.  Those  who 
are  best  provided  with  the  comforts  of  life  should  remem- 
ber their  less  favored  brethren. 


EDUCATED    FARMERS. 

IT  is  time  for  those  who  do  not  believe  ignorance  to  be  a 
blessing,  to  move  in  behalf  of  common  schools.  Many 
teachers  are  not  practised  even  in  the  rudiments  of  the 
spelling-book ;  and  as  for  reading,  they  stumble  along  the 
sentences,  like  a  drunken  man  on  a  rough  road.  Their 
"  hand-write,"  as  they  felicitously  style  the  hieroglyphics, 
would  be  a  match  for  Champollion,  even  if  he  did  decipher 
the  Egyptian  inscriptions.  But  a  more  detestable  fact  is, 
that  sometimes  their  morals  are  bad ;  they  are  intemperate, 
coarse,  and  ill-tempered;  and  wholly  unfit  to  inspire  the 
minds  of  the  pupils  with  one  generous  or  pure  sentiment. 
We  do  not  mean  to  characterize  the  body  of  the  com- 
mon schoolmasters  by  these  remarks;  but  that  any  con- 
siderable portion  of  them  should  be  such,  is  a  disgraceful 
evidence  of  the  low  state  of  education. 

Farmers  and  mechanics !  this  is  a  subject  which  comes 
home  to  you.  Crafty  politicians  are  constantly  calling  you 
the  bone  and  sinew  of  the  land ;  and  you  may  depend  upon 
it  that  you  will  never  be  anything  else  but  bone  ami  sinew 


• 
ABOUT    FRUITS,    FLOWERS    AND   FAEMING.  21 

without  education.  There  is  a  law  of  God  in  this  matter. 
That  class  of  men  who  make  the  most  and  best  use  of  thrir 
heads,  will,  in  fact,  be  the  most  influential,  will  stand  high 
est,  whatever  the  theories  and  speeches  may  say.  This  is  P. 
"  ii.it are  of  things"  which  cannot  be  dodged,  nor  got  over. 
Whatever  class  bestow  great  pains  upon  the  cultivation  of 
their  minds  will  stand  high.  If  farmers  and  mechanics  K-rl 
themselves  to  be  as  good  as  other  people,  it  all  may  be  true  ; 
for  goodness  is  one  thing  and  intelligence  is  another.  If 
they  think  that  they  have  just  as  much  mind  as  other 
classes,  that  may  be  true  ;  but  can  you  use  ii  as  well  f 

Lawyers,  and  physicians,  and  clergymen,  and  literary 
men,  make  the  discipline  of  their  intellect  a  constant  study. 
They  read  more,  think  more,  write  more  than  the  laboring 
dasscs.  The  difference  between  the  educated  and  unedu- 
cated portions  of  society  is  a  real  difference.  Now  a  proud 
and  lazy  fellow,  may  rail  and  swear  at  this,  and  have  his 
labor  for  his  pains.  There  is  only  one  way  really  to  get  over 
it,  and  that  is  to  rear  up  a  generation  of  well  educated, 
thinking,  reading  farmers  and  mechanics.  Your  skill  and 
industry  are  felt ;  and  they  put  you,  in  these  respects,  ahead 
of  any  other  class.  Just  as  soon  as  your  heads  are  felt,  as 
much  as  your  hands  are,  that  will  bring  you  to  the  top. 

Many  of  our  best  farmers  are  men  of  great  natural 
shrewdness ;  but  when  they  were  young  they  "  had  no 
chance  for  learning."  They  feel  the  loss,  and  they  are  giv- 
ing their  children  the  best  education  they  can.  Farmers' 
sons  constitute  three-fifths  of  the  educated  class.  But  the 
thing  is,  that  they  are  not  educated  as  farmers.  Wheu 
they  begin  to  study  they  leave  the  farm.  They  do  not  ex- 
pect to  return  to  it.  Thq  idea  of  sending  a  boy  to  the 
school,  the  academy,  and  the  college,  and  then  let  him  go 
back  to  farming,  is  regarded  as  a  mere  waste  of  time  and 
money.  You  see  how  it  is  even  among  yourselves.  If  a 
boy  has  an  education,  you  expect  him  to  be  a  lawyer,  or  a 
doctor,  or  a  preacher.  You  tacitly  admit  that  a  formei 


22  PLAIN    AND   PLEASANT   TALK 

does  not  need  such  :ui  education  ;  and  if  you  think  so,  you 
cannot  Maine  others  if  they  follow  your  example. 

There  is  no  reason  why  men  of  tlie  very  highest  educa- 
tion should  not  go  to  a  farm  for  their  living.  If  a  son  of 
mine  were  brought  up  on  purpose  to  be  a  farmer,  if  that 
ua-  the-  calling  which  he  preferred,  I  still  would  educate 
him,  if  he  had  common  sense  to  begin  with.  He  would  be 
as  much  better  for  it  as  a  farmer,  as  he  would  as  a  lawyer. 
There  is  no  reason  why  a  thoroughly  scientific  education 
should  not  be  given  to  every  farmer  and  to  every  mechanic. 
A  beginning  must  be  made  at  the  common  school.  Every 
neighborhood  ought  to  have  one.  But  they  do  not  grow 
of  themselves,  like  toad-stools.  And  no  decent  man  will 
teach  school  on  wages  which  a  canal  boy,  or  a  hostler  would 
turn  up  his  nose  at.  You  may  as  well  put  your  money  into 
the  fire  as  to  send  it  to  a  "  make-believe  "  teacher — a  great 
noodle-head,  who  teaches  school  because  he  is  fit  for  nothing 
else!  Lay  out  to  get  a  good  teacher.  Be  willing  to  pay 
enough  to  make  it  worth  while  for  "  smart "  men  to  become 
your  teachers.  And  when  your  boys  show  an  awakening 
taste  for  books,  see  that  they  have  good  histories,  travels, 
and  scientific  tracts  and  treatises.  Above  all,  do  not  let  a 
boy  get  a  notion  that  if  he  is  educated,  he  must,  of  course, 
quit  the  farm.  Let  him  get  an  education  that  he  may  makt 
a  better  farmer.  I  do  not  despair  of  yet  seeing  a  genera- 
tion of  honest  politicians.  Educated  farmers  and  educated 
mechanics,  who  are  in  good  circumstances,  and  do  not  need 
office  for  a  support,  nor  make  politics  a  trade,  will  stand 
the  best  chance  for  honesty.  But  the  Lord  deliver  us  from 
the  political  honesty  of  tenth-rate  lawyers,  vagabond  doc- 
tors, bawling  preachers,  and  bankrupt  clerks,  turned  into 
patriotic  politicians  I 


ABOUT   FRUITS,    FLOWERS    AND   FARMING.  23 


AN  ACRE   OF  WORDS  ABOUT  AKER. 

OUR  spelling  acre  according  to  Webster's  former  method* 
— alter,  has  attracted  no  little  attention,  in  a  small  way,  !»<>th 
fur  and  near.  It  is  very  difficult  to  fix  on  any  rule  for  any- 
thing in  our  language.  Etymology  is  chiefly  useful  in 
settling  the  primitive  signification,  and  is,  or  ought  to  be, 
scarcely  at  all  authoritative  in  orthography.  Where  two 
languages  are  very  different,  it  is  absurd  to  attempt  the 
forms  of  the  one  in  the  other.  In  respect  to  idiom,  no  one 
dreams  of  transferring  it  from  one  to  another.  Oftentimes 
it  is  equally  absurd  to  transfer  mere  literation,  as  in  the 
Greek-blooded  word  Phthisic  for  Tisic,  or  as  Walker  would 
have  spelled  it,  Phthisic^  /  Who  rebels  because  demesne, 
as  it  is  written  in  our  best  authors  until  within  a  little  time, 
is  now  spelled  domain  f  We  see  no  reason  why  Anglicized 
words  should,  against  all  our  notions  of  sound,  retain  a 
cumbrous  foreign  spelling.  Words  adopted  into  a  lan- 
guage by  the  ear,  which  are  spoken  before  they  are 
written,  generally  conform,  on  being  written,  to  our  modes 
of  spelling.  But  words  introduced  first  by  the  eye,  as  they 
are  written,  for  a  long  time  wear  the  original  spelling. 
Thus  some  foreign  words  are  spelled  by  one  method,  and 
pome  by  another. 

Custom  is  usually  regarded  as  determinate,  in  the  matter 
of  spelling,  pronunciation,  idiom,  purity,  etc.  But,  in 
respect  to  spelling,  custom  is  not  long  the  same.  If  one 
will  examine  our  literature  from  the  time  of  Henry  VIII.,  ho 
will  find  a  constant  succession  of  changes  in  spelling,  both 
for  good  and  for  bad.  ./has  been  generally  substituted  for 
Y,  as  in  Lykwyse,  accordynge,  beyng,  certayne.  Sir 
Thomas  More  wrote  hym,  thynges,  desyer,  myndes.  Skel- 
ton,  the  Poet  Laureat,  has  centencyously,  dyd,  advysynge 
hyll,  etc.,  etc. 

*  Two-volume  edition,  imperial  octavo. 


24  PLAIN   AND   PLEASANT  TALK 

There  has,  too,  and  widely,  been  a  constant  tendency  to 
drop  all  \insovnckd  letters.  AYhat  earthly  use  is  there  of 
liiLru-iiiLC  alono;  letters  which  arc  entirely  mute?  In  old  but 
classic  authoix  \vc  liavc  (iod<A;  dyd<70,  nowe,  whiche,  pulta, 
lieMf,  suchg,  couerte  (court)  beetweng,  bcgunwe,  etc. 

AY  it  bin  our  own  memory  the  final  k  is  lopped  off  from 
words  where  it  had  a  perfect  sinecure,  as  in  musidk,  etc. 
"  Kartt  kum  it,"  does  not  look  any  more  odd  to  our  eyes 
than  our  spelling  would  have  looked  to  those  who  wrote 
one  hundred  years  ago. 

If  it  be  asked  why  we  do  not  spell  every  word  by  the 
same  rule  that  we  do  some ;  we  reply,  that  violent,  and 
sudden  changes  in  languages  are  impracticable  /  and  as  in 
everything  else,  are  not  desirable.  We  are  glad  to  see 
spelling  simplified,  and  shall  move  along  just  as  fast  a<  we 
can  do  it  with  a  reasonable  prospect  of  carrying  the  public. 

It  is  not  a  matter  of  conscience ;  we  have  no  necessity 
laid  upon  us  to  reform  the  language ;  no  call  to  be  literal 
martyrs  ;  it  is  a  matter  of  convenience  and  taste,  to  be  done 
or  omitted  as  one  pleases.  It  would  be  more  inconvenient 
to  stand  alone  with  all  writers  against  us,  for  the  sake  of 
spelling  consistently,  than  to  spell  foolishly  and  super- 
fluously in  conformity  to  inveterate  practice.  Therefore, 
for  the  sake  of  company,  we  still  spell  quite  absurdly. 

It  is  called  inconsistent;  and  by  men,  too,  who  spell 
trough,  cough,  enough,  though,  through,  bought,  six  dis- 
similar sounds  (ou,  ow,  oo,  o,  uf,  off),  by  the  same  com- 
bination of  letters  !  If  consistency  be  the  question,  every 
English  writer  that  ever  lived,  is  a  mere  bundle  of  incon- 
sistencies. Every  continental  living  language,  and  the  dead 
classic  languages,  have  thrown  in  their  contributions,  and 
our  tongue  comprises  the  scraps,  odds  and  ends,  of  all 
lands,  with  all  the  diverse  peculiarities  of  each  language 
more  or  less  retained.  Under  such  circumstances,  when  no 
man  writes  a  sentence  without  spelling  inconsistently,  it  is 
quite  ridiculous  to  oppose  a  simplification  of  spelling,  be- 


ABOUT  FRUITS,   FLOWERS   AND  FARMING.  25 

cause  we  cannot  do,  at  once,  what  it  is  only  practicable  to 
do  gradually.  As  fast  as  the  public  is  able  to  bear  it,  we 
shall  be  glad  to  reduce  all  cumbrous  spelling  to  a  consistent 
simplicity. 

An  acquaintance  declares,  that  the  derivation  of  AKER 
from  the  Latin  and  Greek,  is  "  without  the  least  foundation 
in. the  words  as  used-  in  the  Greek  and  Latin  and  in  the  Eng- 
lish, and  built  entirely  on  the  resemblance  of  sounds,"  etc. 
The  facts  are  the  other  way.  In  the  Greek,  and  in  the 
Latin,  it  meant  simply  a  field,  an  open,  cultivated  spot. 
Now,  this  was  the  meaning  of  the  word  in  English,  until  it 
was  by  statutes  limited  to  a  particular  quantity  (31  Ed.  III. ; 
5  Ed.  I.,  24 ;  Henry  VIII.,  as  quoted  by  Webster)  and  this 
is  the  meaning  yet,  of  the  word  in  German  (acker)  Swedish 
(acker)  Dutch  (akker).  There  is,  therefore,  ample  founda- 
tion in  the  use  of  the  word ;  and  the  sound  our  friend 
gives  up. 

In  almost  all  the  languages  of  the  Teutonic  family,  of 
which  ours  is  one,  the  word  is  still  spelled  with  k  /  and  so  it 
is  in  the  Asiatic  languages,  from  which,  probably,  both  the 
Teutonic  and  the  Greek,  alike  borrowed  it. 

The  spelling  acre,  as  also  centre,  theatre  we,  probably, 
derived  from  the  French ;  to  which  language  we  owe  the 
emasculation  of  many  a  noble  Saxon  word. 

In  the  N~ew  England  Farmer  our  orthographical  sins  are 
thus  set  in  order  before  us : 

"The  Western  Farmer  and  Gardener,  is  an  excellent 
journal — very.  It  has  only  one  feature  that  we  dislike, 
viz. — it  spells  ACRE  a-k-e-r  !  We  are  somewhat  surprised 
at  Bro.  Beecher,  who  usually  evinces  such  good  taste,  as 
well  as  such  good  sense,  should  adopt  such  an  ugly-looking 
substitute  for  an  old  word  of  so  much  better  appearance, 
although  supported  in  it  by  the  prince  of  lexicogra- 
phers. 

"A-k-e-r!  Wheugh !  Bro.  editors,  hoot  at  it  till  it 

2 


26  PLAIN   AND  PLEASANT  TALK 

shall  become  obsolete.  In  Todd's,  Johnson's,  and  \Yalkei 's, 
and  Worcester's  dictionaries,  fad  is  sprlU-d/etae/,  as  the 
most  correct  way.  This  is  odd  enough  and  bad  enough — 
but  it  is  hardly  so  unsightly  as  dker." 

Nothing  becomes  obsolete  until  it  has  been  in  vogue. 
But  pass  that  :  Avhat  a  sight  will  the  hooting  confraternity 
present!  I  imagine  Maine  Farmer  Holmes — a  plump, 
short,  dapper  gentleman,  giving  a  long  howl,  that  sounds 
so  ludicrous,  that  he  draws  back  from  the  open  window  to 
laugh.  Our  more  sober  Breck  performs  the  euphonious 
duty  with  such  conscientious  heartiness,  that  up  starts  the 
man  of  Buckwheat  from  his  (mis-spelled)  Plow^Aman's 
chair,  as  also  does  the  Cultivator  Cole — a  trio  not  practiced 
to  sing  together.  The  uproar  reaches  Albany,  and  sur- 
prises him  of  the  Cultivator,  who  hoots  supplementary, 
with  such  voice  as  he  happens,  in  his  surprise,  to  have  on 
hand.  Next,  toward  the  west,  Dr.  Lee  shall  give  a  scien- 
tific roar  or  hoot  such  as  will  make  his  laboratory  jar  again. 
Down  across  the  lake  the  hooting  (not  hunting)  chorus 
goes  (what  will  the  sailors  think  is  to  pay !)  to  Elliot  of  the 
yard-long-named  Magazine,  who,  hoarse  with  lake  fogs  and 
winds,  shall  put  in  so  bass  a  hoot,  that  Wight  and  Wright. 
of  the  Prairie  Farmer  will  howl  of  mere  fright,  if  for  no- 
thing else. 

Audacious  men !  we  utterly  defy  you !  We  shall  pass 
by  the  whole  crowing  brood  of  Polands,  Dorkings  and 
what-not;  and  raise  a  breed  of  genuine  owls,  to  be  our 
champions  in  this  dire  necessity.  We  say,  peremptorily, 
that  we  will  not  bet  on  any  match  between  hooting  birds 
and  hooting  editors.  But  our  serious  opinion  is,  that,  in 
grave  solemnity  of 'looks,  and  in  professional  hooting,  a 
half  dozen  well-trained  owls  will  beat  the  whole  of  you. 
However,  we  are  open  to  conviction. 


ABOUT  FRUITS,   FLOWERS   AND   FARMING.  27 


FARMERS'    LIBRARY. 

IT  is  of  the  highest  importance  that  farmers  should  pos- 
sess reading  habits;  and  that  they  should  bring  up  their 
children  to  a  love  of  books.  Every  farmer  should  have  a 
library ;  it  may,  at  first,  be  small ;  but  it  should  be  select. 
As  soon  as  a  farmer  is  beforehand  enough  to  own  an  acre, 
he  is  prosperous  enough  to  begin  a  library.  It  is  said  by 
many,  books  won't  make  money.  Yes  they  will.  To-be- 
sure,  their  best  effect  is  the  production  of  intelligence  in  the 
reader ;  but  a  man  well  informed  in  his  own  business  is  just 
the  man  to  make  money.  Who  ever  thought  of  making 
money  by  buying  grindstones  and  whetstones  ?  But  they 
sharpen  the  scythe,  and  sickle,  and  the  axe,  and  they  pro- 
duce money.  Books  are  grindstones  and  whetstones  for  a 
man's  mind. 

.Many  are  unwilling  to  buy  a  treatise  upon  the  disease  of 
the  horse,  although  there  are  several  which  will  prevent  most 
of  the  evils  which  affect  this  noble  animal.  In  the  West,  the 
horse  is  used,  in  town  and  country,  by  almost  every  man. 
But  very  few  profess  to  know  how  he  should  be  treated ! 
And,  of  those  who  think  they  are  wise,  how  many  have  any 
knowledge  except  of  a  few  nostrums  for  sickness?  The 
horse,  in  man's  service,  is  living  in  an  entirely  artificial 
state.  He  takes  care  of  himself  if  left  wild.  But  living  in 
stables,  laboring  every  month  of  the  year  in  harness,  and 
under  the  saddle,  not  selecting  his  own  food,  but  fed  at  the 
will  of  his  master,  his  own  instincts  become  of  little  use, 
and  he  is  dependent  entirely  on  the  mercy  and  knowledge 
of  those  whose  slave  he  is.  It  ought  not  to  be  thought 
unreasonable  to  say  that  every  man  who  is  willing  to  own  a 
horse,  ought  to  be  willing  to  know  how  to  manage  him,  in 
the  stable  and  out  of  it.  There  is  no  work  in  the  English 
language  containing  more,  or  better  instructions  than*  Stew- 

*  A  Treatise  on  the  management  of  horses  in  relation  to  stabling,  groom- 
ing, feeding,  watering,  and  working :  published  by  A.O.Moore  &Co.,  N  Y 


28  PLAIN   AND  PLEASANT  TALK 

art's  Stable  Economy.  It  should  be  read  by  thciarmer ;  and 
just  as  much  by  every  man,  of  whatever  calling,  who  uses  a 
horse,  or  owns  one.  It  is  of  standard  authority  in  England. 
Mr.  Stewart  lias  long  been  a  professor  in  veterinary  institutes. 
Kvi-ry  man  ought  to  know  how  to  treat  a  sick  horse.  Sup- 
pose a  horse  to  be  taken  sick  on  a  journey ;  most  frequently 
the  driver  is  the  only  one  at  hand' to  prescribe.  If  you  are 
at  a  tavern,  of  what  use,  generally  speaking,  are  the  brag- 
ging pretensions  of  those  that  crowd  around  you  ?  Stop- 
ping for  a  night  at  a  wretched  hole  of  a  tavern,  one  of  my 
horses,  at  night  fell  sick.  I  knew  no  more  than  a  child 
what  to  do ;  the  landlord  (ah  me !  I  shall  never  forget  him !) 
was  equally  ignorant  and  much  more  indifferent.  A  big, 
bragging,  English  booby  was  the  only  one  pretending  to 
know  what  to  do ;  and  to  him  I  yielded  the  animal.  After 
sundry  manipulations — punching  him  in  the  loins;  pulling 
at  his  ears,  etc. — he  rolled  up  a  wad  of  hair  from  his  tail, 
and  crammed  it  down  the  horse's  throat!  presuming,  I 
suppose,  that  the  hair  would  find  its  way  back  to  the  place 
it  came  from,  and  so  pilot  the  disease  out!  I  inwardly 
resolved  never  to  go  another  journey  until  in  possession 
of  the  best  remedies  for  the  attacks  common  to  horses  on 
the  road. 


PREPARING  CUTTINGS  IN  THE  FALL. — Cuttings  of  the 
currant,  gooseberry,  and  grape  are  better  if  cut  immedi- 
ately on  the  fall  of  the  leaf,  plunged  into  moist  sand  two- 
thirds  of  their  length,  and  placed  in  a  cellar.  If  nature  is 
as  propitious  to  others  as  she  has  been  to  us,  the  cuttings 
will  be  found  in  the  spring  with  the  granulations  completed 
at  the  lower  end,  and  the  roots  just  ready  to  push  ;  and  on 
being  planted  out,  they  grow  off  immediately,  forming  dur. 
ing  the  season  well  established  plants. 


AHOUT   FRUITS,    FLOWERS   AND   FARmNG.  29 


NINE    MISTAKES. 

IN  so  far  as  instruction  is  concerned,  I  esteem  my  mis- 
takes to  be  more  valuable  than  my  successful  efforts.  They 
excite  to  attention  and  investigation  with  great  emphasis. 
1  will  record  a  few. 

1.  One  mistake,  which  I  record  once  for  all,  as  it  will 
probably  occur  every  year,  has  been  the  attempting  of  more 
than  I  could  do  wdl.     The  ardor  of  spring,  in  spite  of  expe- 
rience, lays  out  a  larger  garden,  than  can  be  well  tended 
all  summer. 

2.  In  selecting  the  largest  lima  beans  for  seed,  I  obtained 
most  luxuriant  vines,  but  fewer  pods.     If  the  season  were 
longer  these  vines  would  ultimately  be  most  profitable ;  but 
their  vigor  gives  a  growth  too  rampant  for  our  latitude. 
If  planted  for  a  screen,  however,  the  rankest  growers  are 
the  best. 

3.  Of  three  successive  plantings  of  corn,  for  table  use,  the 
first  was  the  best,  then  the  second,  and  the  third  very  poor. 
I  hoed  and  thinned  the  first  planting  myself,  and  thorough- 
ly ;  the  second,  I  left  to  a  Dutchman,  directing  him  how  to 
do  it ;  the  third,  I  left  to  him  without  directions. 

4.  I  bought  a  stock  of  roses  in  the  fatt  of  the  year.    All 
the  loss  of  wintering  came  on  me.     If  purchased  in  the 
spring,  the  nurserymen  loses,  if  there  is  loss. 

5.  I  planted  the  silver-leaved  abele  (Populus  alba)  in  a 
rich  sandy  loam  ;  in  which  it  made  more  wood  than  it  could 
ripen.    The  tree  was  top-heavy,  and  required  constant  stak- 
ing.    A  poorer  soil  should  have  been  selected. 

G.  I  planted  abundantly  of  flower-seeds — just  before  a 
drought.  I  neither  covered  the  earth  with  mats,  nor 
watered  it — supposing  that  the  seeds  would  come  up  after 
the  iirst  rain.  But,  in  a  cheerless  and  barren  garden,  I 
have  learned  that  heat  will  kill  planted  seeds,  and  that  he 
who  will  be  sure  of  flowers  should  not  depend  upon  only 
one  planting. 


30  PLAIN   AND   PLEASANT  TALK 

7.  In  the  fall  of  1843,  I  took  up  the  bulbs  of  tuberoses, 
•ad  wintered  them  safely  upon  the  top  of  book-cases  in  a 
warm  study.     Having  a  better  and  larger  stock  in  1844,  I 
would  fain  be  yet  more  careful,  and  packed  them  in  dry 
sand,  and  put  them  in  a  closet  beyond  the  roach  of  frost. 
On  opening  them  in  the  spring  all  were  rotted  save  about 
half  a  dozen.    Hereafter,  I  shall  try  the  book-case. 

8.  We  are  told  that  glazed  or  painted  flower-pots  are  not 
desirable,  because,  refusing  a  passage  to  superfluous  moist- 
ure, they  leave   the   roots  to   become   sodden.     In   small 
stove-heated  parlors,  the  evaporation  is  so  great  that  glu/rd 
or  painted  flower-pots  are  best,  because  the  danger  is  of 
dryness  rather   than  dampness  in  all  plants  growimj  in. 
sandy  loams  or  composts. 

9.  I  have  resolved  every  summer  for  three  years,  to  cut 
pea-brush  during  the  winter  and  stack  it  in  the  shed ;  and 
every  summer  following,  not  having  kept  the  vow,  I  have 
lacked  pea-brush,  being  too  busy  to   get  it  when  it  was 
needed,  I  have  allowed  the  crop  to  suffer. 


AGRICULTURAL    SOCIETIES. 

MANY  county  societies  were  formed  in  1836  and  for  some 
years  flourished ;  few  of  them,  we  believe,  exist  now.  We 
hope  that  the  day  has  come  for  them  to  revive  ;  and,  that  the 
experience  of  the  past  may  not  be  lost,  it  is  well  to  record 
the  reasons  why  these  county  societies  declined. 

1.  Just  after  their  birth,  came  on  the  fatal  years  of  ficti- 
tious prosperity;  when  every  man  expected  a  railroad  <m 
one  side  of  his  farm  and  a  canal  on  the  other — and  \vlu-n 
everybody  was  about  to  be  exceedingly  rich ;  not  by  legiti- 
mate business  ;  not  by  producing  wealth ;  but  by  the  rise 
of  property.  Now  the  wealth  of  a  farming  community  is 
always  to  arise  from  the  products  of  the  farm.  Whatever 


ABOUT  FRUITS,   FLOWERS   AND   FARMING.  31 

withdraws  attention  from  assiduous  cultivation,  or  plants 
the  hope  of  gain  in  other  sources  than  in  the  herds,  the 
dairy,  the  grain  and  the  grass  field,  will,  eventually,  insure 
disappointment  and  even  poverty,  as  many  of  our  fanners 
can  testify.  It  would  be  difficult  for  those  who  had  not 
seen  it,  to  imagine  the  fervent,  sanguine,  exulting,  state  of 
mind  with  which  the  whole  community,  at  the  time  we 
speak  of,  looked  for  the  wealth.  Farms  were  to  quadruple 
in  value ;  pork  was  to  be  cashed  at  enormous  prices ;  grain 
and  grass,  stock  and  fruit,  were  to  swell  the  golden  tide ; 
and,  for  once,  the  world  was  to  see  great  riches  from  little 
labor.  Carelessness,  waste,  rashness,  and  incredible  pre- 
sumption were  the  result.  Societies  for  the  promotion  of  a 
careful  and  patient  cultivation  of  the  soil  could  not  long  be 
thought  worthy  of  attention  in  a  community  which  ex- 
pected to  be  rich  by  a  dexterous  bargain,  by  one  lucky  spec- 
ulation, by  town  lots,  and  shares,  and  that  mysterious  hum- 
bug— the  rise  of  property. 

2.  Succeeding   such   days   came   the   opposite   extreme. 
Everybody  was  poor  and  expected  to  be  poorer.    There 
was  no  money  and  no  market.     Hogs  were  hardly  salable, 
grain  a  drug,  and  all  produce  unavailable.     Nothing  was 
brisk  but  debt  and  debt  collecting.     Men  were  discouraged. 
Said  they,  "  if  one  can  sell  nothing,  there  is  no  use  in  rais- 
ing anything  ;  twenty  bushels  an  acre  is  as  good  as  forty, 
when  one  can't  sell  or  use  it."     Schools  languished,  public 
spirit  died,  business  was  totally  deranged,  and  agricultural 
societies  became  extinct  with  the  downfall  of  other  useful 
institutions. 

3.  There  were  some  things  in  the  management  of  the 
societies  which  embarrassed  them  independently  of  these 
other  causes.     There  was  too  much  talk  and  pretension — 
wind  work;  the  offices  were  taken  for  the  honor — patient 
endurance  of  drudgery,  which  somebody  must  bear,  was 
shirked  oft*.     Men  took  little  pains  between  the  meetings; 
everything  was  to  be  done  at  the  time  of  meeting ;  and,  of 


32  PLAIN  AND  PLEASANT  TALK 

course,  half  done.  This  led  to  dissatisfaction.  The  mis- 
takes of  carelessness  were  attributed  to  partiality  or  preju- 
dice. Some  dropped  off;  others  relaxed;  aiul,  AY  hen  the 
excitement  \vas  iM>nr,  i\  \\  cared  to  take  the  dull  but  real 
and  necessary  IMIMI 

4.  Notwithstanding  all  these  things,  the  county  societies 
did  a  great  deal  of  good.  A  skillful  farmer  told  me,  that 
in  the  county,  where  he  resided,  there  was  hardly  a  con- 
siderable farmer  \\lio  did  not  try  a  few  acres,  at  least,  to 
see  what  he  could  do  /  and  even  many  renters  exhibited 
specimens  of  fine  cultivation.  More  attention  was  paid 
to  every  part  of  the  farm  ;  and,  for  a  time,  everything  felt 
the  impulse. 

A  few  words  to  those  who  may  embark  again  in  this  good 
cause. 

1 .  It  is  best  to  begin  as  you  can  hold  out.    A  great  meet- 
ing, a  vast  roll  of  by-laws,  a  regiment  of  officers,  a  parade 
of  speeches,  these  make  a  fine  meeting,  and  that's  all.     Let 
a  few  stanch  friends  to  improvement  put  their  heads  and 
hands  together,  without  show  or  noise ;  begin  at  the  little 
end,  and  hold  fast  what  is  gained. 

2.  In  choosing  officers,  societies  almost  invariably  steer 
upon  one  rock  on  which  thousands  have  split.     There  is  a 
desire  to  put  great  men  into  offices,  to  get  their  influence. 
In  a  mere  public  meeting  of  a  day,  this  is  well  enough ;  but 
in  a  society  which  is  to  exist  by  efficient  labor,  it  is  suicide. 
Such  men  like  to  be  puffed  and  published  as  presidents, 
chairmen,  etc.,  etc.,  but  that  ends  the  matter.     They  go 
away  and  are  not  seen  again  till  the  next  annual  meeting, 
when,  lo  !  a  resurrection  takes  place ;  and  they  flame  again, 
a  whole  year's  zeal  exhibited  in  one  day.     It  is  best  to 
select  officers,  who  are  well  broken,  of  a  good  strain  of 
blood,  and  who  pull  steadily,  on  hard  ground,  in  the  mud, 
over  bridging,  or  upon  turnpikes.     In  this  way  we  may  not 
have  quite  so  large  a  show,  but  we  shall  have  a  steadily 
growing  and  efficient  society. 


ABOUT   FRUITS,    FLOWERS    AND    FARMING.  33 

3.  In  the  award  of  premiums,  more  or  less  of  dissatisfac- 
tion will  always  be  felt.     A  man  who  has  worked  a  whole 
year  for  a  premium  cannot  be  expected  to  lose  it  without 
some  pain.     Premiums  should  be  awarded  with  great  care, 
\\  Uh  scrupulous  impartiality,  and  every  effort  made  by  the 
loading,  substantial  farmers  to  soothe  and  keep  down  every- 
thing like  bitterness  and  faction,  in  consequence  of  disap- 
pointment. 

4.  It  is  indispensable  that  agricultural  papers  should  go 
hand  in  hand  with  agricultural  societies.     We  will  venture 
to  say,  that  no  society  will  long  exist  prosperously,  which 
does  not  have  a  reading  membership ;  and  that  a  society 
can  hardly  fail  to  prosper  if  its  members  are  regular  readers 
of  agricultural  papers. 


SHIFTLESS  TRICKS, 

To  let  the  cattle  fodder  themselves  at  the  stack ;  they 
pull  out  and  trample  more  than  they  eat.  They  eat  till  the 
edge  of  appetite  is  gone,  and  then  daintily  pick  the  choice 
parts ;  the  residue,  being  coarse  and  refuse,  they  will  not 
afterwards  touch. 

To  sell  half  a  stack  of  hay  and  leave  the  lower  half  open  to 
rain  and  snow.  In  feeding  out,  a  hay  knife  should  be  used 
on  the  stack ;  in  selling,  either  dispose  of  the  whole,  or  re- 
move that  which  is  left  to  a  shed  or  barn. 

It  is  a  shiftless  trick  to  lie  about  stores  and  groceries, 
arguing  with  men  that  you  have  no  time,  in  a  new  country  f 
for  nice  farming — for  making  good  fences;  for  smooth 
meadows  without  a  stump  ;  for  draining  wet  patches  which 
disfigure  fine  fields. 

To  raise  your  own  frogs  in  your  own  yard ;  to  permit, 
year  after  year,  a  dirty,  stinking,  mantled  puddle  to  stand 
before  your  fence  in  the  street. 

2» 


34  PLAIN  AND  PLEASANT  TALK 

To  plant  orchards,  and  allow  your  cattle  to  cat  the  trees 
up.  When  gnawed  down,  to  save  your  money,  by  trying 
to  nurse  the  stubs  into  good  trees,  instead  of  getting  1'ivsh 
ones  from  the  nursery. 

To  allow  an  orchard  to  have  blank  spaces,  where 
have  died,  :m<l  when  the  living  trees  begin  to  bear,  to  wake 
up  and  put  young  whips  in  the  vacant  spots. 

It  is  very  shiitless  to  build  your  barnyard  so  that  every 
rain  shall  drain  it;  to  build  your  privy  and  dig  your  well 
close  together ;  to  build  a  privy  of  more  than  seven  feet 
square — some  shiftless  folks  have  it  of  the  size  of  the  whole 
yard ;  to  set  it  in  the  most  exposed  spot  on  the  premises ; 
to  set  it  at  the  very  far  end  of  the  garden,  for  the  pleasure 
of  traversing  mud-puddles  and  labyrinths  of  wet  weeds 
in  rainy  days. 

It  is  a  dirty  trick  to  make  bread  without  washing  one's 
hands  after  cleaning  fish  or  chickens;  to  use  an  apron  for  a 
handkerchief;  to  use  a  veteran  handkerchief  just  from  the 
wars  for  an  apron;  to  use  milk-pans  alternately  for  wash  - 
bowls  and  milk.  To  wash  dishes  and  baby  linen  in  the  same 
tub,  either  alternately  or  altogether;  to  chew  snuff  while 
you  are  cooking,  for  sometimes  food  will  chance  to  be  too 
highly  spiced.  We  have  a  distinct  but  unutterable  remem- 
brance of  a  cud  of  tobacco  in  a  dish  of  hashed  pork — but 
it  was  before  we  were  married ! 

A  lady  of  our  acquaintance,  at  a  boarding-house,  excited 
some  fears  among  her  friends,  by  foaming  at  the  mouth,  of 
madness.  In  eating  a  hash  (made,  doubtless,  of  every  scrap 
from  the  table,  not  consumed  the  day  before),  she  found 
herself  blessed  with  a  mouthful  of  hard  soap,  which  only 
lathered  the  more,  the  more  she  washed  at  it.  It  is  a  filthy 
thing  to  comb  one's  hair  in  a  small  kitchen  in  the  intervals 
of  cooking  the  breakfast ;  to  use  the  bread  trough  for 
a  cradle — a  thing  wlrch  we  have  undoubtedly  seen ; 
to  put  trunks,  boxes,  baskets,  with  sundry  other  utensils, 
under  the  bed  where  you  keep  the  cake  for  company  ;  wo 


ABOUT   FRUITS,    FLOWERS   AND   FARMING.  35 

have  seen  a  dexterous  housewife  whip  the  bed-spread  aside, 
and  bring  forth,  not  what  we  feared,  but  a  loaf-cake ! 

It  is  a  dirty  trick  to  wash  children's  eyes  in  the  pudding 
dish  ;  not  that  the  sore  eyes,  but  subsequent  puddings,  will 
not  be  benefited;  to  wipe  dishes  and  spoons  on  a  hand- 
towel;  to  wrap  warm  bread  in  a  dirty  table-cloth  ;  to  make 
and  mold  bread  on  a  table  innocent  of  washing  for  weeks ; 
to  use  dirty  table-clothes  for  sheets,  a  practice  of  which  we 
-have-  had  experimental  knowledge,  once  at  least  in  our  lives. 

The  standing  plea  of  all  slatterns  and  slovens  is,  that 
"  everybody  must  eat  a  peck  of  dirt  before  they  die."  A 
peck?  that  would  be  a  mercy,  a  mere  mouthful,  in  com- 
parison of  cooked  cart-loads  of  dirt  which  is  to  be  eaten  in 
steamboats,  canal-boats,  taverns,  mansions,  huts  and  hovels. 

TOBACCO  TRICKS. — It  is  a  filthy  trick  to  use  it  at  all ;  and 
it  puts  an  end  to  all  our  affected  squeamishness  at  the 
Chinese  taste,  in  eating  rats,  cats,  and  bird's  nests.  It  is  a 
filthy  trick  to  let  the  exquisite  juice  of  tobacco  trickle 
down  the  corners  of  one's  mouth ;  or  lie  in  splashes  on  one's 
coat,  or  bosom ;  to  squirt  the  juice  all  over  a  clean  floor, 
or  upon  a  carpet,  or  baptismally  to  sprinkle  a  proud 
pair  of  andirons  the  refulgent  glory  of  the  much-scouring 
housewife.  It  is  a  vile  economy  to  lay  up  for  re-mastica- 
tion a  half-chewed  cud ;  to  pocket  a  half-smoked  cigar  ; 
and  finally  to  be-drench  one's  self  with  tobacco  juice,  to  so 
be-smoke  one's  clothes  that  a  man  can  be  scented  as  far  off 
as  a  whale-ship  can  be  smelt  at  sea. 

It  is  a  shiftless  trick  to  snuff  a  candle  with  your  fingers, 
or  your  wife's  best  scissors,  to  throw  the  snuff  on  the  car- 
pet, or  on  the  polished  floor,  and  then  to  extinguish  it  by 
treading  on  it ! 

To  borrow  a  choice  book ;  to  read  it  with  unwashed 
hands,  that  have  been  used  in  the  charcoal  bin,  and  finally 
to  return  it  daubed  on  every  leaf  with  nose-blood  spots, 
tobacco  spatter,  and  dirty  finger-marks — this  is  a  vile 
trick ! 


36  1M.AIN    AND    IM.KASANT  TALK 

It  is  not  altogether  cleanly  to  use  one's  knife  to  scrapo 
boots,  to  cut  harness,  to  skin  cats,  to  cut  tobacco,  and  then 
to  CUt  apples  which  Other  people  are  to  eat. 

It  is  an  unthrifty  trick  to  bring  in  eggs  from  the  barn  in 
one's  coat  pocket,  and  then  to  sit  down  on  them. 

It  is  a  filthy  trick  to  borrow  of  or  lend  for  others'  UM-,  a 
tooth-brush,  or  a  tooth-pick;  to  pick  one's  teeth  at  table 
with  a  fork,  or  a  jack-Unite;  to  put  your  hat  upon  the  din- 
ner table  among  the  dishes;  to  spit  generously  into  the  fire, 
or  at  it,  while  the  hearth  is  covered  with  food  set  to  warm  ; 
for  sometimes  a  man  hits  what  he  don't  aim  at. 

It  is  an  unmannerly  trick  to  neglect  the  scraper  outside 
the  door,  but  to  be  scrupulous  in  cleaning  your  feet  aflew 
you  get  inside,  on  the  carpet,  rug,  or  andirons ;  to  bring 
your  drenched  umbrella  into  the  entry,  where  a  black 
•puddle  may  leave  to  the  housewife  melancholy  evidence 
that  you  have  been  there. 

It  is  soul-trying  for  a  neat  dairy  woman  to  see  her  "  man  " 
watering  the  horse  out  of  her  milk-bucket ;  or  filtering 
horse-medicine  through  her  milk-strainer ;  or  feeding  his 
hogs  with  her  water-pail ;  or,  after  barn-work,  to  set  the 
well-bucket  outside  the  curb  and  wash  his  hands  out  of  it. 


ELECTRO-CULTURE. 

A  FEW  years  ago,  all  the  world  was  agog  about  electri- 
city applied  to  vegetation.  Sanguine  persons  grew  red  in 
the  face  with  excitement,  and  enterprising  schemers  hoped 
to  supersede  all  past  processes  of  culture  by  this  magical 
fluid.  Things  were  to  be  made  to  grow  not  only  as  fast  as 
lightning  but  by  lightning.  Those  mischievous  bolts  which 
had  played  their  dangerous  pranks  with  chimneys,  oaks, 
and  towers,  were  to  be  regularly  harnessed  and  set  to 
work  in  the  field  like  horses  or  oxen.  Many  of  our  readers 


ABOUT  FRUITS,    FLOWERS   AND   FARMING.  37 

will  recollect  how  widely  the  agricultural  papers  copied  the 
glowing  accounts  brought  from  over  the  seas ;  and 
nobody  was  afraid  of  anything  except  of  not  believing 
enough. 

Well,  the  lightning  has  been  too  smart  for  them ;  and  the 
whole  pack  which  opened  loud  on  the  scent,  are  now  heard 
just  as  loud  on  the  back  track.  It  usually  takes  two  fool- 
ings  to  satisfy  the  public.  They  first  swing  to  an  extreme 
folly  of  injudicious  admiration,  and  them  vibrate  to  the  op- 
posite extreme  of  disgust.  Everybody  was  fever-hot  with 
morus  multicaulis ;  and  then  they  went  into  chills  about  it. 
Durham  stock  brought  almost  their  weight  in  silver  at  one 
time,  and  then  could  hardly  be  sold  at  butchers'  prices. 
Berkshire  hogs  were  all  the  rage,  and  now  are  in  great  and 
unmerited  contempt.  The  guano  fever  sent  hundreds  of 
ships  a-dung-hunting  all  over  the  earth :  and  lucky  were 
they  who  espied  a  precious  heap  of  excrement.  How  little 
did  the  penguins  and  sea  gulls  of  the  Pacific  imagine,  that 
their  unconscious  observance  of  the  laws  of  nature 
was  one  day  to  figure  so  largely  on  the  British  Ex- 
change, and  to  raise  such  a  bustle  in  chemical  labor- 
atories ! 

We  believed  but  few  of  these  accounts  of  electricity, 
because  we  perceived  nothing  which  could  be  regarded  as 
settled.  And  now,  we  are  far  from  sympathizing  with  the 
recantations  and  apostasies  from  the  electric  faith.  Like 
all  other  things  driven  to  extremes,  we  shall  by  and  by  see 
it  settle  upon  a  middle  point. 

Editors  are  not  without  blame  for  these  actions  and  re- 
actions. Many  of  our  best  agricultural  papers  are  con- 
nected with  agricultural  warehouses  which  deal  largely  in 
all  articles  for  which  there  is  an  agricultural  demand. 
Without  the  slightest  intention  of  deception,  nay,  with  a 
desire  to  act  cautiously,  such  pecuniary  inU'ivst  may  sen 
fcdbly  affect  the  judgment  of  sanguine  editors.  But  the 
wish  to  issue  a  spicy  paper,  full  of  life  and  surprise,  inclines 


38  PLAIN   AND   PLEASANT  TALK 

an  editor  to  publish  whatever  is  new,  without  a  scrutiny  of 
its  truth.  "With  a  lew  honorable  exceptions  of  standard 
Koala,  ir«  scarcely  take  an  agricultural  paper  which 
does  not  contain  most  absurd  stories  gravely  indited  with- 
out a  word  of  comment.  Now,  it  seems  to  us  that  agri- 
cultural papers  ought  not  to  be  the  common  sewers  of  news, 
full  of  waste  and  refuse  matter  ;  but  registers  of  rigid  facts 
and  scientific  expositors  of  the  principles  deducible  from 
facts.  Farmers  are  at  fault  also  in  the  matter.  An  editor 
who  depends  for  his  support  upon  the  proceeds  of  his 
paper,  must  be  a  man  of  rare  independence  if  he  can  shield 
himself  from  the  selfish  influence  of  those  who  are  his  best 
supporters.  Men  that  have  a  novelty,  a  new  and  precious 
jewel  of  a  flower,  a  heavy  stock  of  nursery  commodities,  or 
large  herds  of  fancy  stock,  sheep  or  swine,  can  afford  to 
circulate  widely  and  praise  any  paper  that  will  circulate 
widely  and  praise  their  special  interest.  A  sanguine 
editor  inditing  a  eulogistic  article,  with  a  red-hot  specula- 
tor whispering  at  each  ear,  will  be  very  likely  to  lead  many 
simple  farmers  astray.  Such  articles,  copied  by  newspapers, 
spread  the  infection  beyond  the  circle  of  subscribers.  Far- 
mers that  take,  and  farmers  that  do  not  take  the  paper  will 
be  deceived. 

Now,  let  husbandmen  give  to  their  agricultural  papers 
such  a  support  as  shall  leave  the  editors  free  from  tempta- 
tions to  listen  to  interested  persons  ;  let  them  contribute  so 
freely  of  their  observations  that  editors  will  not  have  to 
draw  upon  their  imagination  for  facts,  and  the  agricultural 
press  will  become  sober,  stable,  accurate,  and  so,  pro- 
fitable. 


ABOUT  FRUITS,   FLOWERS   AND   FARMING.  39 


SINGLE-CROP     FARMING. 

IT  is  extensively  the  practice  of  large  farmers,  to  put 
their  whole  force  upon  one  staple  article  ;  a  style  of  farm- 
ing as  full  of  risk,  as  it  would  be  to  invest  a  whole  fortune 
in  one  kind  of  property.  At  the  South,  we  have  cotton 
plantations ;  nothing  but  cotton  is  raised.  If  the  market 
and  the  season  happen  to  be  propitious,  enormous  profits 
are  made.  If  markets,  or  the  planting  or  picking  season 
are  adverse,  the  year  is  lost ;  for  it  was  staked  on  one 
article ;  all  the  risks  of  the  year,  instead  of  being  distributed, 
were  concentrated.  Another  plantation  cultivates  sugar 
exclusively ;  and  the  ambitious  planter  has  his  pockets  full 
or  empty,  according  to  chances  which  he  cannot  foresee, 
calculate,  or  overrule. 

At  the  Nprth,  some  farmers  put  in  nothing  but  wheat ; 
others,  nothing  but  corn.  One  relies  on  the  hay  crop ; 
another  makes  or  loses  a  year's  profits  on  cattle.  In  each 
case,  if  the  staple  raised  happens  to  hit,  in  every  respect 
profits  roll  in  like  a  flood.  But  such  operations  leave  no 
margin  for  those  casualties,  and  annual  changes,  which  are 
inevitable. 

Ireland,  relying  upon  the  potato  as  a  support  for  a  large 
mass  of  its  poverty-stricken  people,  is  visited  with  famine 
if  this  crop  is  shaken.  The  failure  of  the  grain  crop,  in  Eng- 
land, strikes  panic  into  the  whole  nation. 

A  perfect  system  of  agriculture  should  have  in  itself,  a 
balancing  power.  There  should  be  such  a  distribution  of 
crops  that  a  farmer  may  have  four  or  five  chances  instead 
of  one.  To  be  sure,  a  farmer  cannot  drive  so  large  a  bus- 
iness— cut  such  a  swath — where  five  small  or  moderate 
operations  take  the  place  of  a  single  great  one.  Five  years 
of  moderate  profits  are  better  than  one  gaining  year,  and 
four  years  to  eat  it  up.  A  farmer  has  160  acres — sixty  are 
in  wood :  of  the  one  hundred  cleared  acres,  say  twenty  are 
used  for  home  lots,  pasture,  corn,  etc.,  and  eighty  are  in 


40  PLAIN   AND   PLEASANT  TAT  K 

wheat.  The  fall  may  be  bad  for  planting,  the  spring  may 
be  bad,  the  fly  may  take  the  crop  or  the  rust  may  strike  it ; 
escaping  all  these,  the  weevil  may  damage  it  ;  and,  afu-r  all 
this,  it  may  not  bring  a  justifying  price  when  got  to  mar- 
ket. Is  it  wise  for  a  man  to  put  his  yearly  support  or  gains 
upon  one  crop  and  that  one  crop  depending  upon  six  or  seven 
contingencies  ?  If  there  is  a  large  crop  and  high  prices,  he 
makes  largely.  Eighty  acres  at  thirty  bushels  the  acre 
yields  2,400  bushels,  worth,  say,  seventy  cents,  or  $1,680 
gross  receipts.  Elated  beyond  measure,  the  lucky  fellow 
buys  some  forty  acres  more  of  cleared  land,  reduces  his 
pasture,  shaves  off  a  portion  from  his  meadow,  plants  a  few 
acres  only  of  corn,  and  puts  every  inch  he  can  command 
into  wheat ;  a  good  operation  if  he  can  find  guaranty  for 
as  good  seasons  and  as  good  market  as  before.  But  there 
are  at  least  ten  chances  against  for  one  in  favor. 

A  farm  which  depends  for  its  profit  on  butter,  cheese, 
fruit,  timber,  cattle,  hogs,  corn,  wheat,  potatoes,  flax,  etc., 
makes,  perhaps,  but  a  little  on  each  crop ;  but  the  rains 
that  come  in  drops  are  useful,  while  those  that  come  in  tor- 
rents and  raise  freshets,  leave  great  mischief  behind. 


TICKS  ON  SHEEP. — A  clergyman,  who  was  early  in  life  a 
regular-built  shepherd,  after  the  old-fashioned  style,  living 
with  his  flock,  requests  us  to  call  the  attention  of  all  interested 
in  sheep,  to  the  prevention  of  ticks  adopted  "  in  the  place 
he  came  from."  A  trough,  large  enough  to  hold  a  sheep, 
was  filled  with  a  decoction  of  tobacco;  as  soon  as  the  sheep 
are  sheared,  they  are  plunged  all  over  in,  except  the  nose 
and  mouth  (these  organs  being  sacred  to  chewers  and  snuff- 
ers). The  lambs  are  treated  in  the  same  way,  and  a  world 
of  trouble  to  the  owner  and  yet  me. re  to  the  flock,  is  saved 
by  this  nauseous  bath. 


ABOUT   FRUITS,    FLOWERS   AND    FARMING.  41 


IMPROVED    BREEDS    OF     HOGS    AND    CATTLE. 

No  farmer  ever  owns  a  fine  animal  without  being  proud 
of  it.  Yet,  the  same  man  will  have  an  inveterate  prejudice 
against  what  are  called  improved  breeds.  The  "fancy" 
prices  which  have  been  extravagantly  paid,  the  miserable 
failure  which  some  have  made  in  attempting  to  stock  their 
limn  with  foreign  breeds,  together  with  a  suspicion  of 
whatever  is  new,  and  a  lack  of  enterprise,  have  deterred 
many  farmers  from  seeking  a  better  stock  than  the  common 
run.  It  is  in  this  way  that  speculators,  besides  ruining 
themselves,  which  is  of  no  great  consequence,  seriously 
retard  the  progress  of  enlightened  husbandry. 

Let  us  take  a  plain  and  practical  view  of  the  matter. 

1.  Every  man  who  has  had  anything  to  do  with  cattle, 
horses  and  swine,  knows  very  well  what  a  difference  there 
is  between  different  animals,  in  respect  to  size,  form,  and 
aptitude  to  fatten.     Among  twenty  steers  there  will  be  a  few 
that  without  any  reason  that  the  owner  can  see,  out-grow 
and  out-fatten  all  the  rest.     A  lot  of  fifty  hogs  gathered  up 
from  one  neighborhood,  will  naturally  divide  itself  into 
three  sorts,  those  which  fatten  with  remarkable  rapidity 
and   on  little  food ;    those    that    eat  voraciously  without 
taking    on  fat;    and  those  that  lie  between  these  two 
extremes  and  are  not  remarkable  in  one  way  or  the  other. 
Every  man  that  buys  a  horse  knows  that  some  horses  re- 
quire as  much  again  food  as  others  to  keep  them  fat. 

2.  It  is  equally  true  that  these  qualities  can  be  trans- 
mitted, by  careful    breeding,  from   parent  to   offspring ; 
until  the  qualities  become^cee^  in  the  breed.     A  particular 
strain  of  blood,  is  then  said  to  be  established!     By  this  pro- 
cess, English  breeders  of  stock,  with  the  greatest  persever- 
ance and  with  admirable  skill,  have  established  several  truly 
improved  breeds.     It  is  not  mere  beauty  of  form  that  has 
been  gained,  although  this  has  been  eminently  attained ; 
but  also  all  those  qualities  which  make  an  ox  valuable  for 


42  PLAIN   AND   PLEASANT  TALK 

the  yoke  or  for  the  knife ;  all  that  makes  a  cow  good  at 
the  jiail  and  afterwards  for  the  butcher;  all  that  makes  a 
hog  valuable  in  flesh  and  fat.  It  is  a  mistake  to  suppose 
that  the  improved  breeds  have  been  formed  to  please  gen- 
tlemen farmers  and  amateur  fanciers.  They  have  been  per- 
fected with  an  eye  mainly  to  their  profitableness  to  the  far- 
mer— the  real  farmer.  Nor  are  they  the  stock  for  large 
farmers  and  rich  proprietors  alone.  They  are  more 
peculiarly  suited  to  farmers  of  small  or  moderate  means 
than  to  any  other;  a  rich  farmer  can  afford  to  keep  poor 
stock,  if  anybody  can ;  but  a  small  farmer  is  badly  off  indeed 
if  the  little  that  he  has  is  poor. 

3.  No  class  of  formers  are  more  interested  in  having 
good  stock  of  all  kinds  than  western  farmers.  Pork  and 
beef  constitute,  probably,  three-fifths  of  their  exports.  It  is 
of  the  last  importance  that  they  should  possess  animals  from 
which  can  be  made  the  utmost  profit.  It  is  as  much  more 
profitable  for  an  Indiana  farmer  to  drive  the  very  best  cat- 
tle, as  it  is  for  a  Massachusetts  farmer.  If  improved  breeds 
are  found  on  the  Mohawk  to  be  vastly  more  profitable  than 
common  stock,  they  will  be  found  to  be  just  the  same  on  the 
Wabash. 

It  does  not  follow,  either,  because  we  have  more  corn 
ihan  we  can  feed,  or  more  grass  and  hay  than  can  be  used, 
that  we  can  .make  up  for  inferior  quality  by  the  greater 
quantity  of  cattle  kept.  A  western  farmer  may  winter  a 
hundred  head  of  cattle  without  positive  loss,  when  a  New 
York  farmer  would  sink  money  by  it.  But  that  is  not  the 
question.  Suppose  two  herds,  of  a  hundred  each,  of  four 
year  olds,  preparing  for  the  shambles.  They  eat  the  same 
amount  of  grain,  and  hay  or  grass.  But  when  AveiulmiLc- 
tinie  comes,  one  herd  averages  a  fourth  heavier  than  the 
other,  and  this  is  clear  profit.  With  no  more  food,  and  no 
more  labor,  and  no  longer  time  in  fattening,  they  yield  the 
owner  a  fourth  more  profit. 

Three   men    start   a  hundred   hogs   apiece   for  market. 


ABOUT  FEUTTS,   FLOWERS   AND   FARMING.  43 

The  first  lot  is  of  the  true  land-shark  breed,  and  will 
average,  say  one  hundred  and  twenty-five  pounds;  the 
second  lot  are  of  a  better  breed,  and  will  average  two  hun- 
dred pounds;  the  third  hundred  are  of  a  choice  breed  and 
average  three  hundred  pounds.  If  the  market  happen  to 
be  heavy,  the  first  lot  can  hardly  be  sold ;  the  second  lot 
sells  moderately  well,  the  third  lot  goes  promptly  and  at  a 
shade  higher  price.  Now  what  is  the  difference  of  profit  ? 
If  pork  is  selling  for  two  dollars  the  hundred,  the  first  hun- 
dred hogs  bring  two  hundred  and  fifty  dollars.  The  second, 
four  hundred  dollars;  and  the  third,  six  hundred  dollars. 
That  is,  a  difference  of  breeds  makes  a  difference  in  profit, 
feeding  and  labor  being  the  same  in  both  cases,  between  the 
first  and  last  lot,  of  three  hundred  and  fifty  dollars.  But  it 
will  be  more  than  this,  for  hogs  averaging  three  hundred 
pounds  will  command  twenty-five  cents  in  the  hundred  more 
than  those  weighing  a  hundred  and  twenty-five  pounds.  The 
price  which  a  farmer  will  get,  then,  for  his  hundred  acres  of 
com,  depends  upon  what  his  hogs  can  do  for  him.  One  sort 
of  hogs  can  make  up  a  fourth  more  fat  than  others,  and  ano- 
ther can  make  up  still  a  fourth  more  than  these.  If  you 
owned  a  mill,  which  of  two  millers  would  you  choose — the 
one  who  could  make  forty  pounds  of  flour  to  the  bushel, 
or  the  one  who  could  make  forty-five — the  quality  being 
equally  good  ?  Of  two  acres  of  land,  which  would  you 
choose— the  one  which  would  yield  fifteen  bushels  of 
wheat,  or  the  one  which,  with  the  same  cultivation,  would 
yield  thirty?  Our  farmers  are  willing  enough  to  hunt 
for  good  lands ;  but  why,  on  the  same  reasons,  should  they 
not  hunt  for  the  best  breeds  of  cows,  cattle  hogs,  and 
horses  ? 

4.  As  to  the  different  varieties  which  are  cried  up,  we 
have  no  interest  in  urging  one  more  than  another  upon  the 
public.  It  is  all  one  to  us  whether  Hereford,  Devon,  or 
Durham,  prevail;  Woburn,  Byfield  or  Berkshire.  All  that 
•*ve  ask  is  that  farmers  should  aim  to  procure  the  best.  Their 


44  PLAIN   AND   PLEASANT  TALK 

own  experience  must  determine  which  that  is.  One  kind 
will  suit  one  range  of  land  better  than  another.  Beginning 
uith  mode-ration,  a  shrewd  farmer  will  soon  be  able  to  tell 
whether  any  particular  breed  will  suit  his  farm. 

AVe  presume  that  all  farmers  work  for  the  sake  of  profit: 
we  urge  an  improvement  of  stock  simply  on  the  ground  of 
its  profitableness. 


ABSORBENT  QUALITIES  OF  FLOUR. 

IT  has  long  been  known  that  flour  gains  in  weight  on 
being  made  up  into  bread.  The  English  act  of  Parliament 
allowed  280  Ibs.  (a  sack)  of  flour  to  make  320  Ibs.  of  bread. 
But  in  fact  it  makes  a  much  greater  weight  than  this.  The 
average  per  cent,  of  water,  in  English  flour,  naturally, 
according  to  Johnson,  is  15  per  cent.  But  good  English 
and  French  wheat  bread,  according  to  the  same  author,  con- 
tains 44  per  cent,  of  water ;  i.  e.  twenty-eight  pounds  are 
absorbed  in  making.  By  this  estimate,  280  Ibs.  would  gain 
nearly  seventy-four  pounds,  while  the  act  of  Parliament 
allows  only  forty  pounds. 

It  is  understood  that  American  wheat  absorbs  more  water 
than  English ;  and  that  United  States  southern  wheat,  absorbs 
more  than  northern.  It  is  also  true  that  good  wheat  gains 
more  in  baking  than  poor  wheat,  and  old  flour,  more  than 
new.  It  is  not  good  because  it  takes  up  water  ;  but  good 
flour  has  that  property,  and  poor  has  not ;  and  absorption  is, 
therefore,  an  evidence  of  quality. 

This  absorption  of  water  is  in  part  mechanical  and  in 
part  chemical.  The  difference  between  these  may  be  illus- 
trated ;  a  bushel  measure  of  shelled  corn  will  admit  a  great 
quantity  of  water  into  its  open  spaces  ;  it  stands  between  the 
kernels.  When  water  is  thrown  upon  lime,  it  does  not 


ABOUT   FRUITS,   FLOWERS   AND   FARMING.  45 

exist  between  the  particles,  but  combines  with  them.    Flour 
absorbs  water  in  both  ways. 

Absorption,  mechanically,  depends  upon  the  coarseness  of 
flour,  either  from  the  character  of  its  growth,  or  from  the 
manner  of  its  grinding.  The  want  of  light  and  heat,  in 
unfavorable  climates,  or  in  bad  seasons,  induces  sluggish  and 
imperfect  action.  The  juices  are  but  partially  digested  and 
assimilated.  Many  vegetable  constituents  exist,  in  conse- 
quence, in  smaller  quantities,  or  in  a  crude  state.  In  such 
cases  the  texture  is  porous  and  spongy.  Grinding  breaks 
down  the  organized  form  without  altering  the  essential 
nature  of  the  texture. 

It  would  seem,  if  this  be  true,  that  grain  ripened  under 
unfavorable  influences  would  absorb  less  rather  than  more 
water,  since  the  watery  particles,  from  the  want  of  rapid 
digestion  and  excretion,  remain  in  the  grain.  But  after 
grain  is  cut,  and  put  to  dry,  a  literal  evaporation  takes 
place ;  the  water  is,  in  a  measure,  exhaled. 

We  are  not  to  suppose  that  a  mechanical  absorption  pre- 
dominates. By  far  the  greatest  proportion  of  water  is  sup- 
posed to  combine  with  the  ingredients  of  the  flour — starch, 
gluten,  etc., — chemically.  And  as  flour  is  rich  in  starch  and 
gluten,  it  will  have  the  power  of  taking  water  into  com- 
bination. It  has  been  supposed  that  the  absorbing  power 
of  flour  depended  mainly  upon  its  gluten.  But  Johnson 
holds  the  position  in  doubt.  Whereas,  Webster  (of  Eng- 
land) states  that  it  is  with  the  starch,  principally,  that  water 
combines.  The  per  cent,  of  starch,  sugar,  and  gluten,  etc., 
in  wheat,  depends  on  the  soil  and  climate ; — on  the  soil, 
because  it  must  derive  from  it,  originally,  the  elements  of 
its  existence ;  on  climate,  because  these  elements  require  a 
certain  temperature  and  quantity  of  light  for  their  perfect 
elaboration.  It  is  on  this  account,  that  the  wheat  of 
southern  Europe  is  better  than  that  of  England ;  that  that 
of  Egypt  is  superior  to  the  Italian.  In  each  case  there  is  a 
superiority  of  climate  which  produces  the  most  perfect  ela- 
boration of  all  th^  elements  of  wheat. 


46  PLAIN  AND  PLEASANT  TALK 


PORTRAIT    OF    AN    ANTI-BOOK-FARMER. 

WHENEVER  our  anti-book-farmers  can  show  us  better 
crops  at  a  less  expense,  better  flocks,  and  better  forms,  and 
better  owners  on  them,  than  book-farmers  can,  we  shall 
become  converts  to  their  doctrines.  But,  as  yet,  we  cannot 
see  how  intelligence  in  a  farmer,  should  injure  his  crops. 
Nor  what  difference  it  makes  whether  a  farmer  gets  his 
ideas  from  a  sheet  of  paper,  or  from  a  neighbor's  mouth,  or 
from  his  own  experience,  so  that  he  only  gets  good,  practi- 
cal, sound  ideas.  A  farmer  never  objects  to  receive  politi- 
cal information  from  newspapers ;  he  is  quite  willing  to 
learn  the  state  of  markets  from  newspapers,  and  as  willing 
to  gain  religious  notions  from  reading,  and  historical  know- 
ledge, and  all  sorts  of  information  except  that  which  relates 
to  his  business.  He  will  go  over  and  hear  a  neighbor  tell 
how  he  prepares  his  wheat-lands,  how  he  selects  and  puts 
in  his  seed,  how  he  deals  with  his  grounds  in  spring,  in  har- 
vest and  after  harvest-time;  but  if  that  neighbor  should 
write  it  all  down  carefully  and  put  it  into  paper,  it's  all 
poison !  it's  book-farming  ! 

"  Strange  such  a  difference  there  should  be 
'Twixt  tweedledum,  and  tweedledee." 

If  I  raise  a  head  of  lettuce  surpassing  all  that  has  been 
seen  hereabouts,  every  good  farmer  that  loves  a  salad  would 
send  for  a  little  seed,  and  ask,  as  he  took  it,  "  How  do  you 
contrive  to  raise  such  monstrous  heads?  you  must  have 
some  secret  about  it."  But  if  my  way  were  written  down 
and  printed,  he  would  not  touch  it.  "  Poh,  it's  bookish  !" 

Now  let  us  inquire  hi  what  States  land  is  the  best  man- 
aged, yields  the  most  with  the  least  cost,  where  are  the 
sheep,  the  best  cattle,  the  best  hogs,  the  best  wheat  ? 
It  will  be  found  to  be  in  those  States  having  the  most  agri- 
cultural societies  and  the  most  widely-disseminated  agricul- 
tural papers, 


ABOUT  FRUITS,    FLOWERS    AND   FARMING.  47 

What  is  there  in  agriculture  that  requires  a  man  to  bo 
ignorant  if  lie  will  be  skillful  ?  Or  why  may  every  other 
class  of  men  learn  by  reading  except  the  farmer  ?  Mecha- 
nics have  their  journals  ;  commercial  men  have  their 
papers;  religious  men,  theirs;  politicians,  theirs;  there  are 
niMijazines  and  journals  for  the  arts,  for  science,  for  educa- 
tion, and  why  not  for  that  grand  pursuit  on  which  all  these 
stand?  We  really  could  never  understand  why  farmers 
should  not  wish  to  have  their  vocation  on  a  level  with 
others  ;  why  they  should  feel  proud  to  have  no  paper,  while 
every  other  pursuit  is  fond  of  having  one. 

Those  who  are  prejudiced  against  book-farming  are 
either  good  farmers,  misinformed  of  the  design  of  agricul- 
tural papers,  or  poor  farmers  who  only  treat  this  subject  as 
they  do  all  others,  with  blundering  ignorance.  First,  the 
good  farmers ;  there  are  in  every  county  many  industrious, 
hard-working  men,  who  know  that  they  cannot  afford  to 
risk  anything  upon  wild  experiments.  They  have  a  growing 
family  to  support,  taxes  to  pay,  lands  perhaps  on  which 
purchase  money  is  due,  or  they  are  straining  every  nerve  to 
make  their  crops  build  a  barn,  that  the  barn  may  hold  their 
crops.  They  suppose  an  agricultural  paper  to  be  stuffed 
full  of  wild  fancies,  expensive  experiments,  big  stories  made 
up  by  men  who  know  of  no  farming  except  parlor-farming. 
They  would,  doubtless,  be  surprised  to  learn  that  ninety- 
nine  parts  in  a  hundred  of  the  contents  of  agricultural 
papers  are  written  by  hard-working  practical  farmers! 
that  the  editor's  business  is  not  to  foist  absurd  stories  upon 
credulous  readers,  but  to  sift  stories,  to  scrutinize  accounts, 
to  obtain  whatever  has  been  abundantly  proved  to  be  fact, 
and  to  reject  all  that  is  suspected  to  be  mere  fanciful  theory. 
Such  papers  are  designed  to  prevent  imposition ;  to  kill  off 
j.ivtonders  by  exposing  them;  to  search  out  from  practical 
men  whatever  they  have  found  out,  and  to  publish  it  for  the 
benefit  of  their  brethren  all  over  the  Union;  to  spread 
before  the  laboring  classes  such  sound,  well-approved  scien- 


43  PLAIN   AND   PLEASANT  TALK 

% 

tific  knowledge  as  shall  throw  light  upon  every  operation 
of  the  farm,  the  orchard  and  the  garden. 

The  other  class  who  rail  at  book-farming  ought  to  be 
excused,  for  they  do  not  treat  book-farming  any  worse  than 
they  do  their  own  farming ;  fndeed,  not  half  so  bad.  They 
rate  the  paper  with  their  tongue;  but  cruelly  abuse  their 
ground,  for  twelve  months  in  the  year  with  both  hands.  I 
will  draw  the  portrait  of  a  genuine  anti-book-farmer  of  this 
last  sort. 

He  plows  three  inches  deep  lest  he  should  turn  up  the 
poison  that,  in  his  estimation,  lies  below ;  his  wheat-land  is 
plowed  so  as  to  keep  as  much  water  on  it  as  possible ;  he 
sows  two  bushels  to  the  acre  and  reaps  ten,  so  that  it  takes 
a  fifth  of  his  crop  to  seed  his  ground ;  his  corn-land  has 
never  any  help  from  him,  but  bears  just  what  it  pleases, 
which  is  from  thirty  to  thirty-five  bushels  by  measurement, 
though  he  brags  that  it  is  fifty  or  sixty.  His  hogs,  if  not 
remarkable  for  fattening  qualities,  would  beat  old  Eclipse 
at  a  quarter-race  ;  and  were  the  man  not  prejudiced  against 
deep  plowing,  his  hogs  would  work  his  grounds  better  with 
their  prodigious  snouts  than  he  does  with  his  jack-knife- 
plow.  His  meadow-lands  yield  him  from  three-quarters 
of  a  ton  to  a  whole  ton  of  hay,  which  is  regularly  spoiled 
in  curing,  regularly  left  out  for  a  month,  very  irregularly 
stacked  up,  and  left  for  the  cattle  to  pull  out  at  their  pleas- 
ure, and  half-eat  and  half-trample  underfoot.  His  horses 
would  excite  the  avarice  of  an  anatomist  in  search  of  osteo- 
logical  specimens,  and  returning  from  their  range  of  pasture 
they  are  walking  herbariums,  bearing  specimens  in  their 
mane  and  tail  of  every  weed  that  bears  a  bur  or  cockle. 
But  oh,  the  cows  !  If  held  up  in  a  bright  day  to  the  sun, 
don't  you  think  they  would  be  semi-transparent  ?  But  he 
tells  us  that  good  milkers  are  always  poor  !  His  COM 
what  Providence  sends  them,  and  very  little  beside,  except 
in  winter,  then  they  have  a  half-peck  of  corn  on  ears  a  foot 
long  thrown  to  them,  and  they  afford  lively  spectacles  of 


ABOUT  FRUITS,   FLOWERS   AND   FARMING.  49 

animated  corn  and  cob-crushers — never  mind,  they  yield, 
on  an  average,  three  quarts  of  milk  a-day !  and  that  milk 
yields  varieties  of  butter  quite  astonishing. 

His  farm  never  grows  any  better,  in  many  respects  it  gets 
annually  worse.  After  ten  years'  work  on  a  good  soil,  while 
his  neighbors  have  grown  rich,  he  is  just  where  he  started, 
only  his  house  is  dirtier,  his  fences  more  tottering,  his  soil 
poorer,  his  pride  and  his  ignorance  greater.  And  when,  at 
last,  he  sells  out  to  a  Pennsylvanian  that  reads  the  Farmers' 
Cabinet,  or  to  some  New  Yorker  with  his  Cultivator  packed 
up  carefully  as  if  it  were  gold,  or  to  a  Yankee  with  his  New 
England  Farmer,  he  goes  off  to  Missouri,  thanking  Heaven 
that  he's  not  a  book-farmer ! 

Unquestionably,  there  are  two  sides  to  this  question,  and 
both  of  them  extremes,  and  therefore  both  of  them  deficient 
in  science  and  in  common  sense.  If  men  were  made  accord- 
ing to  our  notions,  there  should  not  be  a  silly  one  alive ; 
but  it  is  otherwise  ordered,  and  there  is  no  department  of 
human  life  in  which  we  do  not  find  weak  and  foolish  men. 
This  is  true  of  farming  as  much  as  of  any  other  calling. 
But  no  one  dreams  of  setting  down  the  vocation  of  agri- 
culture because,  like  every  other,  it  has  its  proportion  of 
stupid  men. 

Why  then  should  agricultural  writers,  as  a  class,  be  sum- 
marily rejected  because  some  of  them  are  visionary?  Are 
we  not  to  be  allowed  our  share  of  fools  as  well  as  every 
other  department  of  life  ?  We  insist  on  our  rights. 

A  book  or  a  paper  never  proposes  to  take  the  place  of  a 
farmer's  judgment.  Not  to  read  at  all  is  bad  enough ;  out 
to  read,  and  swallow  everything  without  reflection,  or  dis- 
crimination, this  is  even  worse.  Such  a  one  is  not  a  book- 
headed  but  a  block-headed  farmer.  Papers  are  designed 
to  assist.  Those  who  read  them  must  select,  modify,  and 
act  according  to  their  own  native  judgment.  So  usedj 
papers  answer  a  double  purpose ;  they  convey  a  great 
amount  of  valuable  practical  information,  and  then  they  stir 

3 


50  PLAIN   AND  PLEASANT  TALK 

up  the  reader  to  habits  of  thought ;  they  make  him  more 
inquisitive,  more  observing,  more  reasoning,  and,  therefore, 
more  reasonable. 

Now,  as  to  the  contents  of  agricultural  papers,  whose 
limit  is  it  if  they  are  not  practical?  Who  are  the  j.nu-- 
tical  men  ?  who  are  daily  conversant  with  just  the  things  a 
cultivator  most  needs  to  know?  who  is  stumbling  upon 
difficulties,  or  discovering  some  escape  from  them  ?  who  is 
it  that  knows  so  much  about  gardens,  orchards,  farms, 
cattle,  grains  and  grasses  ?  Why,  the  very  men  who  wortt 
write  a  word  for  the  paper  that  they  read,  and  then  com- 
plain that  there  is  nothing  practical  in  it.  Yes  there  is. 
There  is  practical  evidence  that  men  are  more  willing  to  be 
helped  than  to  help  others ;  and  also  that  men  sometimes 
blame  others  for  things  of  which  they  themselves  are 
chiefly  blameworthy. 


GOOD    BREEDS    OF    COWS. 

THEBE  is  hardly  one  thing  which  conduces  more  to  the 
comfort  of  a  family  than  a  good  cow.  A  family  well  sup- 
plied with  rich  milk  twice  a  day  cannot  have  poor  fare ;  for, 
besides  the  use  of  pure  milk  by  itselfj  there  is  no  article, 
except  flour,  which  enters  into  so  many  forms  of  cooking. 
Next  in  importance  to  the  family,  are  the  relations  of  the 
cow  to  the  dairy ;  we  say  next  to  the  family,  for  it  is  more 
important  that  there  should  be  good  cows  for  private  fami- 
lies than  that  dairies  should  have  them.  All  the  dairy 
herds  might  be  destroyed,  and  if  each  family  has  its  cow, 
the  loss  would  be  bearable.  But  take  from  families  their 
one  cow,  and  all  the  dairies  in  the  land  could  not  compen- 
sate. 

Tha  question  of  a  good  breed  of  milch  cows  is  important, 
then,  to  the  whole  community ;  to  the  dairymen  of  course ; 


ABOUT  FRUITS,   FLO  WEES   AND  FARMING.  51 

but  yet  more  to  the  families  of  laborers,  mechanics,  mer- 
chants, etc. 

Everybody  knows  that  it  costs  no  more  to  keep  a  good 
cow  than  a  poor  one.  But  what  is  the  use  in  talking  so 
when  good  ones  are  not  to  be  had  ?  or  to  be  had  only  at  a 
price  which  not  one  in  fifty  can  afford  ?  But  so  far  as  we  are 
concerned,  and  so  far  as  ninety-nine  in  a  hundred  are  con- 
cerned, of  what  use  are  these  accounts  except  to  make  us 
dissatisfied  with  our  poor  old  cow  without  enabling  us  to 
get  a  better  ?  It  was  all  right  to  publish  them,  but  the 
sight  of  such  facts  reminded  us  of  the  low  estate  of  our  milk 
cows,  and  of  the  woeful  carelessness  of  farmers  about  im- 
proving their  stock. 

It  is  high  time  that  farmers  should  endeavor  to  pro- 
cure a  good  milk  breed.  It  is  well  known  that  horses  and 
oxen  are  almost  bred  to  order ;  if  a  fore  shoulder  is  too 
slight,  a  breeder  crosses  so  that  in  the  next  generation  it 
comes  out  right ;  if  the  animal  is  too  small  he  is  enlarged  ; 
if  too  large  he  is  condensed ;  if  the  back  is  too  long,  the 
leg  too  heavy,  the  muscle  too  spare,  the  head  heavily  or 
clumsily  put  on,  the  breeder  has  skill,  in  a  great  measure, 
to  remedy  the  evils.  Why  then  should  it  not  be  thought 
both  possible  and.  worth  while  to  breed  for  good  milking 
properties  ? 

The  least  trouble,  not  the  best  stock,  seems  to  be  the 
question  with  most.  The  discouragement  of  debt,  the  low 
prices  of  all  farm  products,  the  habits  of  arrant  carelessness 
whicli  naturally  belong  to  large  farms,  of  rich  lands,  re- 
moved from  a  ready  market,  and  on  which  there  is  more 
than  enough  for  home  use,  and  much  waste  of  the  surplus 
because  a  poor  sale  for  it ;  these  things  are  the  causes  why 
but  little  attention  is  paid  to  good  stock.  To  be  sure,  in 
speculating  times,  large  prices  have  been  paid  for  animals 
of  repute.  And  now,  if  fancy  prices  could  be  realized, 
there  are  thousands  who  would  beg,  borrow,  or  steal  enough 
to  rush  madly  into  the  raising  of  improved  br3eds  Even 


52  PLAIN   AND   PLEASANT  TALK 

from  such  extravagance  much  collateral  advantage  results. 
Many,  doubtless,  are  disappointed,  as  they  expected  angelic 
cattle,  and  got  nothing  but  flesh  and  blood  ;  those  who  are 
the  most  furious  in  one  extreme,  revolt  to  the  other,  and 
are  as  careless  and  neglectful  this  year,  as  they  were  cattle- 
mad  the  last  year.  But,  some  good,  notwithstanding,  re- 
mains. Good  breeds  have  been  brought  in.  Good  blood 
will  run  longer  in  good  stock,  than  perseverance,  often,  will 
in  their  owners.  Here  and  there  a  man  holds  on.  His 
stock  improves.  His  neighbor's  herds  are  gradually 
leavened.  By  and  by  particular  counties  grow  famous  for 
their  fine  stock.  The  farmers  feel  some  pride  in  it;  and 
now  the  thing  begins  to  work  rightly.  When  once  the 
best  stock,  of  any  kind,  is  a  matter  of  hearty  personal  pride 
with  the  farmer,  over  and  above  the  mere  price  of  them  in 
market,  then  there  will  be  constant  and  solid  improve- 
ment. 

These  remarks,  applying  to  stock  generally,  are  peculiarly 
applicable  to  the  subject  of  milch  cows  with  which  we  set 
out. 


DAHLIAS. — It  is  necessary  to  give  your  plants  a  strong 
support,  for,  in  good  seasons,  they  grow  so  thriftily,  that 
rains  and  winds  break  down  the  branches  even  when  the 
main  stalk  is  strongly  staked.  Those  who  are  willing  to  be 
at  the  trouble,  should  put  three  stakes  so  as  to  leave  the 
stem  in  the  middle.  Take  a  pliant  withe,  or  small  hoop,  and 
encircle  the  stakes  at  the  top,  the  middle,  and  also  about  a 
foot  from  the  ground.  In  this  way  the  branches  will  lean 
on  the  hoops,  and  not  be  liable  to  split  off;  a  few  weeks' 
growth  will  cover  and  conceal  the  stakes  and  hoops,  leav- 
ing to  the  eye  only  a  mass  of  foliage,  apparently,  self-sus- 
tained. 


ABOUT  FRUITS.   FLOWERS  AND  FARMING.  53 


CUTTING    AND    CURING    GRASS. 

THE  question  when  grass  ought  to  be  cut,  it  seems  to  us, 
is  to  be  answered  by  the  purposes  to  which  we  mean  to 
put  it. 

Do  we  wish  it  for  the  seed,  or  for  the  stem  ?  Are  we 
anxious  to  obtain  the  greatest  weight  from  an  acre  ?  or  are 
we  desirous  of  gaining  the  largest  amount  with  the  least 
exhaustion  of  the  soil  ? 

1.  If  one,  regardless  of  soil,  wishes  the  greatest  weight 
to  an  acre,  let  the  grass  ripen.     It  will  have  become  per- 
fectly developed ;   its  juices  will  have  perfected  the  solid 
matter,  and  less  loss  will  ensue  in  curing.    But  the  stem 
will  be  comparatively  hard,  and  without  nutriment. 

2.  Do  we  desire,  without  particular  regard  to  economy, 
the  most  nutricious  food  for  animals  ?    The  grass  should 
ripen  and  only  the  upper  part  of  the  stem  and  the  head 
should  be  fed  out;  for,  while  the  buts  will  be  hard  and 
juiceless,  the  grain  and  husk  and  neighboring  parts  will 
have  received,  in  a  concentrated  form,  the   height  of  the 
plant's  juices.     Chemistry  has  recently  shown  that  plants 
prepare  in  themselves,  the  fatty  matter  which  is  afterward 
laid  on  the  bones  of  the  cattle.    This  fatty  substance  lies 
not  in  the  grain,  but  the  husk. 

Johnston,  the  agricultural  chemist,  says :  "  This  fact  of 
the  existence  of  more  fat  in  the  husk  than  in  the  inner  part 
of  the  grain,  explains  what  often  seems  inexplicable  to  the 
practical  man,  why  bran,  namely,  which  appears  to  contain 
little  or  no  nourishing  substance,  should  yet  fatten  pigs  and 
other  full  grown  animals  when  fed  to  them  in  sufficient 
quantity,  along  with  their  other  food."  I£  for  example,  a 
horse  is  to  be  trained,  it  has  long  been  the  practice  (though 
hitherto  the  reason  was  not  understood)  to  give  the  racers, 
the  hunter,  etc.,  only  the  top  joint  and  head  of  hay. 
Now  the  principle  on  which  a  trained  horse  is  fed,  is  to  give 
the  most  solid  nourishment  in  the 


54  PLAIN  AND  PLEASANT  TALK 

throwing  as  little  unnutricioos  food  as   possible  into  the 
stomach  consistently  with  a  proper  distension  of  it. 

This  fact  also  explains  the  value  of  old  hay  which  has 
been  well  cured  and  well  kept.  It  is  known  that  freshly 
gathered  nuts  are  not  so  oily  as  those  which  are  old.  All 
seeds  perfect  their  oil  after  being  thoroughly  ripened  by 
keeping.  The  seed  of  old  hay  will  be  richer  in  fatty  matter, 
then,  than  new. 

3.  The  most  palatable  hay  for  cattle  is  that  which  is  cut 
before  it  ripens  its  seed.    If  the  farmer  has  enough  grain  to 
feed  with,  he  can  afford  to  cut  his  grass  early.    Its  want  of 
nutriment  will  be  made  up  by  feeding  grain,  and  his  stock 
will  relish  their  food  better  than  if  it  had  grown  hard  with 
age  before  cutting. 

4.  But  for  general  purposes,  grass  should  be  cut  when 
just  out  of  flower.    This  is  a  compromise  between  the  two 
extremes.     It  combines  the  two  advantages  of  juiciness  of 
stem  and  richness  of  gram  more  nearly  than  any   other. 
The  stem  will  be  cut  while  yet  in  juice,  and  the  seed  will 
continue  to  fill  and  ripen  after  it  has  been  cut.    This  is 
well  known  in  respect  to  wheat,  and  the  best  farmers  cut  it 
before  it  is  dead  ripe. 

The  want  of  barns  to  store  it,  the  want  of  markets  in 
which  to  sell  it,  the  want  of  profit  in  raising  it,  and  lastly, 
the  want  of  thrift  in  making  it,  has  caused  thousands  of 
tons  of  hay  to  be  most  wretchedly  put  up — curing  as  it  is 
sarcastically  called ;    cured,  probably,  on  the  principle  of 
the  following  story :   A  physician  in  England  went  out  with 
the  gamekeeper  to  hunt ;    covey  after  covey  was  started, 
into  which  the  doctor  fired  with  a  strange  want  of  pro- 
fessional skill,  without  killing  anything.      The  gamekeeper 
at  length  lost  patience,  and  snatching  the  gun,  said  : 
"  Let  me  take  it,  I'll  doctor  them." 
"  What  do  you  mean,  sir,  by  doctoring  them?" 
"  Why,  kill  them,  to  be  sure." 
Thus,  we  think,  grass  is  too  often  doctored. 


ABOUT  FRUITS,   FLOWERS   AND  FARMING.  55 


COUNTRY    AND    CITY. 

A  WORTHY  friend  recently  said  to  me:  "A  gentlemen  of 
observation  from  one  of  our  principal  cities  of  the.  West, 
stated  to  me,  that  in  point  of  fact,  almost  all  the  leading 
men  of  the  cities  were  from  the  country,  and  had  been 
raised  farmers'  sons.  The  reasons  seemed  to  me  quite 
obvious.  The  vigorous  health,  patient  industry,  thorough 
economy,  and  hard  thinking  necessary  to  success,  are  the 
product  of  the  country  and  but  seldom  of  the  town  or  city. 
A  large  part  of  the  best  merit  and  talent  of  the  country 
doubtless  remains  upon  and  adorns  our  farms.  Another 
portion  is  drawn  by  a  spirit  for  enterprise  of  a  different 
kind  to  our  towns.  When  they  enter  they  find  an  active 
competition  that  brings  out  their  best  efforts.  Success  on 
their  part  takes  away  the  necessity  of  effort  on  the  part  of 
their  children ;  and  the  next  result  is,  that  their  children 
become  reduced  in  means  and  merit,  and  every  element  of 
success,  and  are  driven  to  some  refuge  in  vice  or  petty  em- 
ployment. It  is  therefore  the  duty  of  the  man  who  has 
been  successful  in  town,  to  retire  to  the  country  again  that 
his  children,  who  are  to  succeed  him,  may  partake,  as  far  as 
possible,  of  his  advantages." 

The  facts  stated  we  believe  are  undoubted ;  the  business 
men — merchants,  lawyers,  physicians,  and  clergymen  of 
large  cities  are,  to  a  large  degree,  drawn  from  the  country. 
And  there  is  a  system  of  circulation,  if  the  facts  could  be 
well  made  out,  worth  attention.  In  travelling,  one  day  last 
year,  the  rain  drove  us  into  a  country  tavern,  where  a  fat 
man  of  some  fifty  years  of  age  was  waiting  to  entertain  us 
with  a  dish  of  philosophy  (of  which,  considering  our  accom- 
modations, we  had  special  need).  But  we  were  led  to 
notice  one  part  of  his  remarks :  "  You  see,  sir,  everything 
comes  round  in  about  four  generations.  First  comes  the 
enterprising  and  hard-working  fellow  who  gets  the  money ; 
then  his  children  begin  to  live  in  style ;  but  their  parents' 


56  PLAIN   AND  PLEASANT  TALK 

example  and  stamina  keep  them  pretty  well  up ;  but  their 
children  begin  to  run  down  ;  in  their  hands  the  property  is 
wasted  and  they  die  poor ;  and  the  fourth  race  begin  in  pov- 
erty, and  work  upward  again."  Now,  if  our  fat  and  some- 
what dogmatical  friend  has  reasoned  aright,  there  is  a  de- 
generating and  rejuvenating  process  going  on  in  society, 
having  a  period  of  about  four  or  five  years.  "We  give  the 
theory  for  what  it  may  be  worth. 


LIME   UPON  WHEAT. 

LIME  is  used  either  to  prepare  the  seed  for  germination, 
or  to  prepare  the  soil  for  the  better  growth  of  the  seed. 
This  latter  operation  it  does,  either  by  adding  itself  as  a 
new  ingredient,  or  by  acting  chemically  upon  the  ingre- 
dients already  in  the  soil. 

When  lime  is  applied  to  the  seed  (the  seed  being  moist) 
the  oxygen  of  the  water,  combining  with  carbon  of  the 
seed,  forms  carbonic  acid ;  which,  having  a  powerful  affin- 
ity for  lime,  unites  with  it,  forming  a  carbonate  of  lime. 
The  escape  of  a  portion  of  its  carbon  constitutes  the  natu- 
ral preparation  of  a  seed  for  growth ;  but  why,  chemists 
have  not  been  able  to  explain. 

Air-slaked  lime,  is  lime  which  has  combined  with  carbonic 
acid  existing  in  the  atmosphere.  Unburnt  limestone  is  a 
carbonate  of  lime  ;  air-slaked  lime  is  the  same,  and  they  do 
not  materially  differ.  Air-slaked  lime,  having  no  longer  an 
affinity  for  carbonic  acid,  withdraws  none  from  the  grain  to 
which  it  may  be  applied ;  and  in  nothing  helps  the  germi- 
nating process.  Our  readers  will  therefore  see  the  rea- 
son why  wheat  does  not  sprout  any  quicker  when  it  is 
limed,  than  when  it  is  not.  Precisely  the  same  thing 
is  true  of  other  substances  applied  to  grains.  Magnesia, 
existing  naturally  as  a  carbonate,  like  lime,  has  its  carbonic 


ABOUT   FRUITS,    FLOWERS    AND   FARMING.  57 

acid  expelled  by  strong  heat,  and  in  that  state  applied  to 
seeds,  will  assist  the  germination.  If  exposed  to  the  air  it 
attracts  carbonic  acid  and  becomes  again  a  carbonate,  and 
useless  to  seeds. 

Where  lime  is  employed  upon  the  soil,  it  is  either  as  a 
mere  article  of  vegetable  food,  or,  as  a  chemical  agent,  to 
change  the  condition  of  other,  ingredients  of  the  soil.  All 
good  soils  contain  lime  ;  of  ninety-four  different  cultivated 
soils  in  Rhode  Island,  analyzed  by  Professor  0.  T.  Jackson, 
eighty-nine  contained  lime.  Ruffin,  in  his  essay  on  calcare- 
ous manures,  says,  after  a  large  induction  of  fact,  "  that  all 
soils  naturally  poor,  are  certainly  destitute  of  calcareous 
earth."  When  there  exists  in  the  soil,  already,  enough  lime 
for  the  wants  of  vegetation,  the  addition  of  more  will  pro- 
duce no  effect  upon  the  crop.  New  lands,  and  old  land  not 
run  down,  and  naturally  rich  in  lime,  may  require  none. 
But  lime  is  applied  not  alone  as  food  directly  offered  to 
vegetation,  but  to  act  upon  and  change  the  soil  itself. 

It  neutralizes  free  acids  which  exist  in  the  soil.  This  is 
done  with  quick-lime  or  air-slaked ;  the  first  combining 
directly  with  the  acid — the  second  by  liberating  its  carbonic 
acid  and  then  combining  with  the  acid  of  the  soil,  leaving 
the  carbonic  acid  to  be  food  for  plants.  It  is  very  well 
known  by  those  accustomed  to  use  peaty  substances  for 
manures,  and  meadow  mud,  that  they  will  rather  injure  than 
benefit  soils,  until  their  acid  has  been  neutralized. 

Lime  decomposes  vegetable  fibre,  and  reduces  tough  lig- 
neous substances,  to  a  consideration  in  which  they  can  be 
appropriated  by  plants.  For  this  purpose  quicklime  should 
be  used  and  may  be  applied  at  the  rate  of  from  twenty  to 
thirty  bushels  t  » the  acre. 

Lime  enters  into  combination  with  sand  or  silex,  forming 
a  substance  different  from  either  of  them.  Even  strong 
clays  will  be  found  to  contain  much  silex ;  and  lime,  by  com- 
bining with  it,  makes  the  soil  friable  or  crumbling. 

3* 


58  PLAIN   AND  PLEASANT  TALK 


CULTURE  OF  HOPS. 

WE  shall  state  such  facts  as  are  within  our  reach,  and 
leave  each  one  to  make  his  own  calculations. 

THE  HOP  PLANT. — The  hop  belongs  to  the  natural  order, 
UrticesB,  or  the  nettle  and  hemp  family.  Its  root  is  peren- 
nial ;  its  stem  annual,  twining  to  the  height  of  from  fifteen 
to  twenty  feet.  They  bear  male  and  female  flowers  on 
different  plants,  and  the  female  is  the  only  one  used  for 
planting. 

SOIL. — Rich,  friable  clay,  and  hearty  loams,  and  vege- 
table molds  are  the  best  soils.  A  wet  subsoil  is  fatal  to  their 
health.  Any  rich,  light,  dry  (but  not  droughty)  soil  suits 
them.  A  large  crop  may  be  obtained  from  our  rich  allu- 
vions, or  bottom  lands ;  but  although  uplands  yield  a  less 
crop,  the  quality  is  regarded  as  decidedly  superior.  A  wet 
clay  subsoil  is  not  good. 

PLANTING. — Plants  are  set  out  in  rows  six  to  eight  feet 
apart  and  six  to  eight  feet  from  hill  to  hill  in  the  row. 
Rooted  plants,  but  more  frequently  cuttings  from  old 
plants  are  employed ;  five  or  six  being  planted  to  the  hill. 
Poles  from  fifteen  to  twenty  feet  hi  length  are  placed  to 
each  hill.  In  England  from  three  to  six  and  even  eight  are 
placed  to  each  hill.  But  three  is  about  the  average  number. 

HARVEST. — No  crop  is  more  variable  than  this ;  the  yield 
per  acre  ninging  according  to  the  season  from  300  to  2,000 
Ibs.  On  rich  bottom  lands  2,000  Ibs.  may  be  not  unfre- 
quently  raised ;  but  on  an  average,  from  700  to  1,000  Ibs. 
may  be  reckoned. 

The  plants  bloom  in  July  and  are  ready  for  harvest  by 
the  first  of  September.  It  is  necessary  t-  gather  them 
promptly,  as  they  soon  deteriorate  if  allowed  to  remain 
after  they  are  ripe.  As  soon  as  gathered  they  are  kiln- 
dried,  then  placed  from  ten  days  to  two  weeks  to  cool,  and, 
finally,  they  are  baled  for  market. 

GENERAL  CONSIDEBATIONS. — A  plantation  will  last  in  full 


ABOUT   FKUITS,    FLOWEKS   AND   FAIIMING.  59 

vigor  for  ten  years,  and  then  will  decline,  but  gradually,  for 
ten  more,  when  it  is  to  be  broken  up.  Fifteen  years,  per- 
haps, is  the  average  duration  of  the  hop  plantations.  They 
exhaust  the  soil,  withdrawing  much  and  returning  little  to 
it.  Hops  vary  exceedingly  in  price  in  different  years,  not 
only  on  account  of  the  varying  supply  arising  from  the 
uncertainty  of  yield,  but  from  the  quality  of  the  article 
in  different  years.  The  average  price  in  the  United  States 
is  not  far  from  sixteen  cents  per  pound.  Sometimes  they 
rise  to  thirty,  forty,  and  even  fifty  cents  per  pound. 

From  the  moment  of  sprouting,  in  the  spring,  until  the 
hop  is  ready  for  the  kiln,  they  are  liable  to  disaster  from 
insects  or  disease.  Nowhere  has  more  experience  been  had 
in  their  cultivation  than  in  England.  Brown  says,  "  they 
are  exposed  to  more  diseases  than  any  other  plant  with 
which  we  are  acquainted,  and  the  trade  offers  greater  room 
for  speculation  than  any  other  exercised  within  the  British 
dominions."  Parkinson,  with  a  quaint  play  upon  the  word 
hop,  says,  "  the  hop  is  said  to  be  a  plant  very  properly 
named,  as  there  is  never  any  certainty  in  cultivating  it." 

If  the  crop  is  to  be  planted  largely,  it  would  seem 
plain,  from  the  foregoing,  that  one  should  have  capital 
enough  to  be  able  to  bear  some  losses,  at  least,  at  first.  For 
ordinary  cultivators,  if  the  experiment  is  to  be  made,  it 
would  be  better  to  begin  with  a  small  plantation  at  first, 
embarking  more  largely  as  knowledge  and  skill  increase, 
and  as  experience  determines  its  profitableness. 


GRAPE  VINES  should  be  trimmed  before  the  sap  begins 
to  rise,  else  they  will  bleed,  to  their  great  injury.  If  it  be 
neglected  till  the  sap  is  in  motiori,  let  the  cultivator  wait 
till  the  leaves  are  about  the  size  of  a  dollar ;  then  cutting 
may  be  performed  without  injury. 


60  PLAIN  AND  PLEASANT  TALK 


WHITE   CLOVER. 

WE  are  inclined  to  suppose  that  the  excellences  of  white 
clover  have  not  been  enough  esteemed  among  our  farmers ; 
indeed,  they  have  adopted  a  few  grasses  as  special  favorites 
upon  whom  all  iavors  are  lavished,  Ana  the  rest  are  totally 
or  very  nearly  rejected. 

In  regions  where  dairies  abound,  and  where,  therefore, 
the  subject  of  pasturage  is  of  vital  interest,  those  grasses 
are  sown  which  spring  early  in  the  year  and  continue  late ; 
which  grow  quickly,  abundantly,  and  shoot  again  rapidly 
after  being  cropped ;  which  are  nutritious ;  which  tend  to 
produce  milk,  and  impart  to  it  high  flavor.  If  any  one 
grass  possessed  all  these  properties,  it  would  be  perfect; 
and,  for  pastures,  all  others  might  be  rejected.  As  it  is, 
several  grasses  must  conspire  to  form  a  sward  possessed  of 
these  diverse  excellences.  In  this  joint  result  white  clover 
bears  no  mean  place.  It  is,  on  congenial  soils,  of  vigorous 
growth,  eminently  conducive  to  the  production  of  milk, 
and  milk  of  fine  flavor.  These  are  its  peculiar  virtues* 
Besides  these,  it  possesses  in  common  with  other  pasture 
plants,  hardiness,  tenacity  of  life,  nutritiousness  for  beef- 
cattle.  Thae'r,  the  most  eminent  practical,  and  scientific 
cultivator  of  his  day,  says :  "  It  is  certainly  the  most  gene- 
ratty  approved  of  all  plants  that  are  cultivated  for  this 
(pasture)  purpose."  Sinclair,  whose  authority  in  grasses 
will  not  be  disputed,  says :  "  nor  does  it  form  a  good  pas- 
ture when  sown  by  itself.  .  .  but,  combined  with  other 
grasses,  it  is  a  valuable  plant."  Great  quantities  of  seed 
are  annually  sown  in  England  by  the  best  farmers.  Fessen- 
den,  of  New  England,  says,  "  it  does  not  contain  as  much 
nutritive  matter  as  red  clover ;  yet  its  value  as  a  pasture- 
grass  is  universally  admitted."  This  is  the  experience  of 
Germany,  England,  and  New  England.  Has  experience 
determined  that  these  good  qualities  are  suppressed  in 
western  pastures?  Or  is  there  such  a  prejudice  against  it 


ABOUT  FRUITS,   FLO  WEES   AND   FARMING.  61 

on  account   of  its  prying,  intrusive  disposition  in  arable 
lands,  that  our  farmers  are  unwilling  to  give  it  a  chance  ? 


PLOWING    CORN. 

MANY  farmers,  because  their  fathers  did  so  before  them, 
plow  their  corn  lands  very  shallow  before  planting;  but 
make  up  for  it  in  deep  plowing  while  dressing  the  corn- 
crop.  Why  is  corn  plowed  at  all  ? 

1.  To  DESTROY  WEEDS. — In  this  climate  if  a  plow  is  not 
kept  lively  in  the  early  part  of  the  season,  weeds  will  com- 
pletely take  the  crop.    The  soil  is  like  a  table  full  of  food. 
Every  man  who  sits  down  to  it  makes  it  less.    Every  weed 
eats  up  a  part  of  the  soil,  and  takes  away,  needlessly,  so 
much  from  the  corn.     But  it  is  not  merely  the  nutritive 
ingredients  which  are  extracted — but  what,  on  some  soils, 
in  some  seasons,  is  even  worse — weeds  drink  up  the  moist- 
ure.    There  are  many  soils  which  could  afford  to  lose  much 
mineral  and  vegetable  substance  without  lessening  the  sup- 
ply for  corn ;  but,  in  this  climate,  in  ordinary  seasons,  no 
soil  can  afford  to  squander  its  moisture. 

But  a  corn  crop  is  often  put  in  to  act  as  a  cleanser  of  the 
soil  when  it  has  become  foul.  This  end  can  only  be 
answered  by  a  rigid  persecution  and  destruction  of  the 
weeds  throughout  the  whole  growing  season.  Some 
fanners,  strangely  enough,  will  deal  thoroughly  with  their 
fields,  but  allow  the  edges  and  fence  rows  to  swarm  witli 
weeds  that  luxuriate  and  ripen  seed  which  the  winds 
scatter  all  over  the  field.  This  is  as  if  a  man  should  busy 
himself  all  day  long,  in  driving  hogs  out  of  his  field,  but 
leave  all  the  holes  open  where  they  broke  in.  The  soil 
should  be  thoroughly  worked. 

2.  To  PREVENT  DRYNESS. — Nothing"  is  wider  of  the  truth, 
than  letting  corn  alone  in  dry  weather  for  fear  of  "  firing  " 


62  IM.A1N     AND    1M. i:\v\\T    TALK 

it.  If  the  plow  lupins  early,  ami  is  kept  going,  no  drought 
likely  to  occur  in  our  climate  can  do  much  injury;  espe- 
cially if  the  ground  has  been  broken  up  deep  before  plant- 
ing. 

Where  the  atmosphere  is  very  dry,  very  hot  and  windy, 
the  evaporation  of  moisture  from  the  plant,  and  from  the 
surface  of  the  soil,  is  excessive.  A  hill  of  com  will  cxliak- 
many  pounds  of  moisture  in  a  day.  There  is  no  remedy 
for  excessive  exhalation  from  plants ;  but  this  renders  it  yet 
more  necessary  that  a  supply  should  be  kept  up  at  the 
roots.  If  the  soil  therefore,  is  permitted  to  evaporate  from 
its  surface,  the  double  draught  upon  its  moisture — through 
the  plant,  and  from  the  surface — will  soon  exhaust  its 
water. 

Everybody  knows  that  if  a  board  or  cloth  be  put  upon 
the  ground,  in  dry  weather,  the  earth  under  it  will  remain 
moist — its  aqueous  particles  being  checked  in  their  pass- 
age upward.  If  a  shovelful  of  fine  manure  be  laid  in  a 
heap  upon  a  spot  of  ground,  the  same  effect  will  be  pro- 
duced. Gardeners  are  accustomed  to  cover  the  earth  about 
shrubs  with  an  inch  or  two  of  fine  sand ;  experience  teach- 
ing them  that  it  preserves  the  moisture  of  the  soil.  Now, 
if  the  soil,  -instead  of  being  covered  with  sand,  or  light 
manure,  be  itself  pulverized,  the  same  effect  will  be  pro- 
duced— and  for  reasons  which  will  appear.  When  the  soil 
is  compact  the  moisture  ascends  from  particle  to  particle 
without  obstruction.  Every  crevice  which  separates  the 
particles  of  earth,  checks  the  passage  of  the  moisture. 
This  may  be  more  readily  seen  in  an  analogous  case — the 
transmission  of  heat.  Take  two  nail-rods,  lay  the  end  of 
one  in  the  fire ;  divide  the  other  into  inch  pieces  and  lay 
them  in  a  row  from  the  fire,  each  piece  touching  the  other. 
The  transmission  of  heat  in  the  rod  made  up  of  pieces  will 
be  checked  at  each  point  of  division,  while  the  uncut  rod 
will  heat  rapidly.  On  this  principle,  an  iron  chain  two  feet 
long,  with  one  end  thrust  into  fire,  will  not  transmit  lu  at 


ABOUT  PKUITS,   FLOWERS   AND  FARMING.  C3 

through  its  length  near  so  soon  as  a  solid  bar  of  the  same 
length. 

If  this  reasoning  be  true,  and  experience  bears  it  out,  the 
plow  should  be  kept  running  in  dry  times  to  save  a  crop 
from  drought.  But  if  the  farmer  has  neglected  his  corn, 
waiting  for  rain,  and  begins  to  plow  after  his  ground  is 
very  dry,  and  plows  deep,  breaking  the  roots  of  his  corn, 
the  crop  will  be  "  fired ;"  for,  in  this  case,  besides  the 
evaporation  from  the  leaves  and  the  dryness  of  the  soil,  he 
commences  breaking  the  roots  by  which  the  crop  drinks 
what  little  water  there  may  be  left  for  it.  Of  course  it 
despairs  when  it  is  attacked  on  one  side  by  the  heat,  and 
on  the  other  by  the  foolish  farmer,  and  underneath  by  a 
treacherously  dry  soil.  Begin,  then,  early,  and  plow  often, 
and  you  may  defy  dry  summers  and  cram  your  crib  with 
hearty  crops  of  corn. 

BREAKING  THE  ROOTS. — Many  farmers  study  to  break 
the  roots  of  their  corn.  We  have  heard  them  boast  of  ripping 
them  up  with  a  big  plow  till  they  clogged  it  up  like  bundles 
of  yarn.  It  is  done  by  some  because  others  do  it ;  those 
who  attempt  to  reason,  say,  that  if  a  root  be  broken  it 
immediately  puts  out  many  more  from  the  point  of  break- 
age ;  and  the  practice  of  root-pruning  fruit-trees  is  cited, 
to  show  that  the  fruitfulness  of  a  plant  is  increased  by 
reducing  the  root  and  checking  the  growth  of  the  wood. 
It  is  not  true  that  the  fruitfulness  of  a  tree  is  increased  by 
root-pruning,  but,  it  is  made  to  yield  its  fruit  earlier.  It  is 
a  device  to  bring  trees  rapidly  into  bearing.  A  pear-tree 
(grafted)  requires  from  five  to  eight  years  before  it  is 
matured  enough  to  commence  bearing.  By  mutilation  of 
root,  bending  of  branches,  or  by  a  poor  gravelly  soil,  the 
tree  is  partially  forbidden  to  grow,  and  obliged  to  ripen  its 
wood  and  fit  it  for  fruit-bearing.  But  had  it  grown  to  its 
natural  size,  it  would  then  have  borne  even  more  fruit  than 
when  dwarfed. 

No  such  practice  is  required  upon  annual  plants,  whose 


64  PLAIN   AND  PLEASANT  TALK 

ripening  is  not  delayed  through  years,  but  which  come  up 
and  ripen  and  die  within  the  limits  of  a  single  season. 
They  need  no  artificial  treatment  to  accelerate  the  fruiting, 
luH-aiise  it  ordinarily  makes  no  difference  whether  the  corn 
crop  comes  in  September  or  October.  It  is  better  to  select 
varieties  of  corn  which  ripen  within  the  limits  of  the  season 
natural  to  the  region  where  it  is  planted.  Then  there  will 
be  no  occasion  to  break  roots,  or  to  apply  any  other  arti- 
ficial and  violent  process  to  accelerate  maturation. 


CLEAN   OUT   YOUR    CELLARS. 

I  SPEAK  to  those  who  have  cellars.  If  not  already  done, 
thoroughly  purge  this  subterranean  story  of  your  house. 
Every  decayed  onion,  cabbage  stump,  potato  vine  or  tuber, 
turnip,  parsnip,  carrot,  and  all  the  dirt  they  have  made,  all 
straw  and  rubbish,  rake  them  up  and  out  with  them.  The 
cellar  is  no  place  for  them  at  any  time  of  year.  If  you  still 
retain  a  few  potatoes  for  table  use,  let  them  be  picked  over 
and  all  decayed  ones  removed.  One  of  the  best  housewives 
of  our  acquaintance,  greeted  us  not  long  since,  with  an  invi- 
tation to  come  and  see  her  cellar :  "  I  have  swept  down 
every  cobweb,  whitewashed  the  walls,  swept  up  the  floor, 
and  sowed  it  with  salt."  Decayed  vegetable  matter  is  a 
fertile  cause  of  disease,  and  there  is  enough  of  it  out  of 
doors,  in  this  country,  without  heaping  it  up  in  the  cellar 
for  the  special  purpose,  it  would  almost  seem,  of  breeding 
fevers.  Whitewash  the  walls,  for  lime  purifies  as  well  as 
beautifies.  Rake  down  the  cobwebs,  they  arc  the  infallible 
marks  of  a  slattern.  Every  spider  that  is  allowed  to  peer 
out  of  his  corner  in  a  house,  up-stairs  or  down,  undisturbed, 
points  his  long  black  leg  in  thanksgiving  at  the  house- 
wife, "  Hurra  for  folks  that  are  not  too  particular."  Old 


ABOUT  FRUITS,   FLOWERS  AND  FARMING.  05 

legends  represent  witches  as  addicted  to  riding  brooms.  I 
wish  that  many  women  would  get  bewitched  enough  to  do 
this,  something  more  than  they  do.  Down  cellar,  then, 
with  your  broom.  Look  now ;  the  window  is  perfectly 
covered ;  there  is  a  great  sprawling  gaunt  spider  in  the 
corner  and  half  a  dozen  empty  bugs  hung  up  like  scalps  to 
commemorate  his  triumphs ;  next  to  him  is  a  great  over- 
swollen  potbellied  fellow — for  all  the  world  he  looks  like  a 
huge  glutton ;  then  there  is  a  sharp,  nimble,  enterprising 
spider,  below  him,  who  has  just  opened  an  office  and 
is  keen  for  business,  preparing  to  inherit,  like  many  other 
fellows,  his  neighbor's  custom,  who,  having  got  rich  frau- 
dulently, will  soon  burst ;  there,  too,  are  several  pale  and 
shadowy  spiders,  who  look  as  if  the  cobwebs  had  kept 
them  from  the  light  until  they  had  become  quite  sallow  and 
emaciated ;  then  there  are  several  little  round,  shining-black, 
pestilent  fellows,  whose  legs  are  so  long  in  proportion  to 
their  bodies,  that  they  make  one  think  of  a  little  potato 
with  yard-long  sprouts  all  over  it.  I  say  nothing  of  crab- 
spiders  on  the  window-sill,  who,  like  metaphysicians,  run 
backward  just  as  easy  as  forwards.  Just  look,  too,  my  dear 
madam,  at  the  various  patterns  of  their  webs.  Here  is  one 
from  point  to  point  resembling  a  sheet-like  shelf  of  dusty 
cotton,  and  running  like  a  tunnel,  into  a  knot  hole,  where 
stands  the  venomous  old  fellow  waiting  for  flies,  like  a  usu- 
rer waiting  for  customers.  Another  corner  is  filled  up  with 
a  web  like  a  skein  of  tangled  silk ;  then  there  is  a  beautiful 
wheel,  worked  more  beautifully  than  any  lace-work,  while 
there  are  a  multitude  of  base  and  lazy  little  spiders  who, 
like  many  of  their  betters,  live  on  other  folk's  webs.  Well, 
we  have  talked  long  enough  ;  dash  your  brush  into  that 
spider-village,  give  it  a  dextrous  twirl,  and  with  the  whole 
population  on  the  end  of  it,  run  to  the  door  and  crush  them  ! 
So  much  for  spiders. 

As  to  salt ;  the  only  advantage  of  salt  in  a  cellar,  that 
occurs  to  us,  is  its  effect  in  destroying  snails,  bugs,  and  that 


66  PLAIN   AND  PLEASANT  TALK 

fungus  vegetation  called  mold.  It  will  do  this.  But  it 
attracts  moisture  from  the  atmosphere  and  renders  a  cellar 
damp.  If  your  cellar  is  very  dry  and  sandy,  you  may  use 
suit  without  detriment.  But  if  too  damp  it  will  make  the 
matter  worse. 


WHEN   IS  HAYINQ  OVER  P 

« 

IN  a  trip  through  the  country  last  summer  we  saw  seve- 
ral fields  of  timothy,  out  of  blossom,  which  had  become  dry, 
seedy,  and  snuff-colored.  Haying  was  not  over,  it  seems. 
Cattle  that  had  been  hardened  to  eat  iron-weed  stems,  jimp- 
sum  stalks,  and  packing  straw,  would  probably  be  willing  to 
eat  this  "hay. 

We  saw  another  sight.  Hay  which  had  been  cut  and 
partly  cured,  was  cocked  up  and  had  been  left,  probably  for 
a  week  or  two  already ;  and,  doubtless,  was  to  stand  thus 
much  longer,  for  there  is  a  fashion  with  some  to  let  their 
hay  lie  about  the  field  in  little  three-feet  cocks,  until  it  is 
convenient  to  haul  it  to  the  stack.  This  may  be  hi  August, 
or  September,  and  sometimes  we  have  seen  a  farmer  (so 
called)  with  a  little  sled  and  rope  hauling  his  hay  in  Octo- 
ber. Now,  hay  thus  served  is  good  for  nothing  but  for 
litter.  The  bottom  of  each  little  heap  molds ;  the  sides  are, 
by  sun  and  rain,  spoiled,  and  the  little  wad  hi  the  middle ' 
does  not,  after  subtracting  the  sides  and  bottom,  amount  to 
much. 

I'll  venture  my  head  that  these  are  not  "  book  farmers." 
I  have  no  doubt  that  "book  farmers  "  do  some  foolish  things, 
but  farmers  without  books  do  a  great  many  more.  No 
book  farmer,  none  but  a  farmer  utterly  without  books, 
would  think  of  leaving  his  hay  in  cocks  for  six  weeks  or  two 
months.  We  see  enough  of  such  hay  offered  for  sale  every 
winter,  of  a  dingy,  lack-lustre,  straw-colored  look,  without 


ABOUT  FRUITS,   FLOWERS   AND  FARMING.  67 

fragrance,  or  odor  of  any  sort  except  a  faint  smell  of  old 
wood,  or  more  pungent  odor  of  mold. 

We  say,  in  conclusion,  grass  should  not  be  left  so  long 
that  it  will  be  already  dry  and  cured  before  it  is  cut ;  and, 
after  grass  is  once  down,  it  is  not  to  be  treated  like  flax,  and 
left  to  bleach  and  rot,  but  should  be  got  in  as  soon  as  pos- 
sible. Farmers  whose  hay  is  on  the  stack  or  in  the  mow 
may  laugh  at  this  article ;  those  whose  hay  is  not  stacked  or 
in  the  barn  had  better  do  something  besides  laugh. 


LAYING    DOWN    LAND  TO  GRASS. 

WE  shall  speak  of  the  kinds  and  quality  of  seed,  and  of 
the  time  and  manner  of  putting  them  in. 

We  think  our  farmers  err  in  not  sowing  enough  kinds  of 
seed  together. 

The  objects  to  be  secured  are  very  early  grass  in  the 
spring,  a  heavy  body  of  hay,  a  rapid  after-growth,  and  the 
greatest  amount  which  the  soil  can  yield.  No  one  grass  can 
be  found  capable  of  meeting  all  these  ends.  Some  are  very 
early,  but  not  heavy  enough  or  sufficiently  nutritious  for  the 
main  crop  ;  others  are  admirable  for  hay,  but  do  not  start 
readily  again  after  cutting.  By  judiciously  mixing  different 
sorts  of  grasses,  any  one  of  these  objects  may  be  secured 
and  the  meadow  be  admirable  both  for  the  scythe  and  for 
pasturage.  Nor  can  the  soil  be  made  to  yield  all  of  which 
it  is  capable  in  any  other  way ;  for  a  square  foot  of  ground 
may  be  able  to  sustain  but  a  certain  number  of  roots  of  any 
one  kind  of  grass,  and  yet  many  support,  in  addition,  as 
much  more  of  another  kind,  since  different  species  of  grass 
draw  their  nourishment  from  different  portions  of  the  soil — 
the  fibrous-rooted  grasses  from  the  surface,  and  tap-rooted 
plants  from  the  lower  strata  of  the  soil,  while  broad-leaved 
vegetation,  as  clovers,  lucerne,  etc.,  draw  very  much  of 


68  PLAIN  AND  PLEASANT  TALK 

their  support  from  the  air.  Indeed,  this  is  the  lessou 
which  Nature  teaches  us,  for  a  dozen  kinds  of  grass  may 
times  be  found  growing  wild  on  a  single  square  foot. 

The  English  farmer  sows  from  four  to  seven  or  eight 
kinds  of  grass-seed,  and  sometimes  as  high  as  twelve  or 
fourteen,  each  one  of  which  is  destined  to  answer  some 
special  end,  and  the  whole  taken  together  constitute  as  it 
were,  a  perfect  grass. 

We  subjoin  the  quantity  and  kind  of  seed  per  acre  re- 
commended by  English  authorities,  that  our  readers  may 
have  an  idea  of  the  English  method,  and  derive  such  benefit 
from  it  as  their  circumstances  will  admit  of: 

Smooth-stalked  poa, 8  quarts. 

Rough-stalked  poa, 8  " 

Meadow  fescue, 12  " 

Meadow  fox-tail, 8  " 

Crested  dog's-tail, 6  " 

Rib-grass, 4  " 

Timothy-grass, 4  " 

Yellow  oat-grass, 4  " 

Perennial  rye-grass, 12  " 

Cock's  foot, 4  " 

Yarrow, 4  " 

Sweet-scented  vernal, 2  " 

White  clover, 6  Ibs. 

Cow-grass, 4  " 

and  annual  meadow-grass. 

These  seeds  may,  for  the  most  part,  be  had  of  eastern 
dealers,  though  not  probably  in  the  West. 

With  blue  grass  we  should  join  orchard  grass,  say  a 
bushel  to  the  acre — white  clover  five  pounds,  red  clover 
ten  pounds,  and  sweet-scented  vernal  (anthoxanthum  odo- 
ratum)  say  three  pounds. 

Tliis  last  grass  is  remarkably  early  in  the  spring,  and 
peculiarly  fragrant ;  indeed,  it  is  supposed  that  the  famous 
spring  butter  of  Philadelphia  derives  its  peculiar  flavor  from 
this  grass,  and  we  should  include  it  in  every  mixture  to  be 


ABOUT  FRUITS,    FLOWERS   AIT»   FARMING. 


69 


sown  for  pasturage.  The  orchard  grass  is  one  of  our  most 
valuable ;  for  hay  it  may  be  inferior  to  timothy ;  but  it  is 
decidedly  superior  to  it  for  pasturage.  Colonel  Powell,  of 
Pennsylvania,  after  growing  it  ten  years,  declares  that  it 
produces  more  pasturage  than  any  cultivated  grass  he  has 
even  seen  in  America.  It  should  be  spread  on  a  floor  and 
sprinkled  with  water  a  day  or  two  before  sowing,  it  being 
very  light,  not  weighing  more  than  twelve  or  fourteen 
pounds  to  the  bushel. 

The  following  table  exhibits  the  quantity  of  seed,  by 
weight,  and  also  on  the  three  kinds  of  soil : 


FOR  PERMANENT  PASTURE,   PER  IMPERIAL  ACRE. 


LIGHT  SOIL. 

MEDIUM  SOIL. 

HBATT  SOIL. 

With  a 

Without  a 

With  a 

Without  a 

With  a 

Without  a 

crop. 

crop. 

crop. 

crop. 

crop. 

crop. 

Ibs. 

Ibs. 

Ibs. 

Ibs. 

Ibs. 

Ibs. 

Perennial  rye-grass  .  . 
Meadow  fox-tail..  .  . 
Timothy-grass  .  .  . 
Meadow  fescue...  . 
Cock's-foot  

12 
H 

? 

24 

2* 

4 

8 

12 
2 
It 

a 

24 
4 
8 
4 
ft 

12 

1 

24 
6* 

4 

4 

Kough-stalked  poa  . 

it 

8i 

£ 

ft 

Smooth-stalked  poa  . 

8* 

H 

ii 

8i 

White  clover  

5 

8 

5 

8 

5 

8 

Red  clover 

U 

2J. 

11 

2i 

21 

Hop-clover,  or  trefoil 
Cow-grass  .... 

n 

] 

H 

it 
u 

It 

i 

88| 

m 

84 

68* 

86* 

66 

There  is  a  very  great  difference  of  opinion  respecting  the 
quantity  of  seed  to  be  sown  to  an  acre.  There  can  be  no 
doubt  that  the  question  is  to  be  settled  by  the  character 
of  the  soil  and  climate.  In  soils  and  under  circumstances 
where  every  seed  will  vegetate  and  grow  off  with  unob- 
structed vigor,  less  seed  is  needed  than  where  a  part  will 
be  taken  by  frosts,  a  part  by  drenching  rains  which  are  not 
well  drained  off,  and  a  part  by  severe  drought.  Every 
farmer  must  employ  his  best  judgment  in  this  matter  ;  but, 


70  1M.AIN   AND   PLEASANT  TALK 

it  is  better  to  err  on  the  side  of  too  much  than  of  too  little 
•eecL 

TIME  OP  SEEDING. — We  cannot  pretend  to  decide  be- 
tween the  conflicting  opinions  on  this  subject.  The  positive- 
ness  of  those  who  prefer  spring-sowing  is  only  to  be 
e«|u:illed  by  that  of  those  who  prefer  fall-planting.  Young 
says  of  the  month  of  August,  "this  is  the  best  season  of  the 
\vhole  year  for  laying  down  land  to  grass,  and  no  other  is 
admissible  for  it  on  strong,  wet,  or  heavy  soils."  This, 
however,  is  said  of  humid  England.  But  if  the  character 
of  the  season  toward  the  close  of  summer  favors,  there  can 
be  no  doubt  that  fall-sowing  will  advance  the  crop  very 
early  the  next  year,  in  all  soils  where  it  is  not  liable  to  be 
thrown  out  by  the  frosts.  If  the  winter  proves  severe,  it 
will  be  prudent  to  add  an  additional  quantity  of  seed  in  the 
spring.  It  is  objected  to  spring  sowings,  that  the  grass  is 
grown  in  the  shade  during  the  early  part  of  the  summer, 
and  is,  of  course,  tender^  so  that  when  the  grain  is  cut,  it 
is  enfeebled  by  the  powerful  heat,  to  which,  then,  it  be- 
comes exposed.  On  the  whole,  we  are  inclined  to  prefer 
the  month  of  September,  if  the  season  favors,  to  any  other 
for  sowing  grass  seed.  Since  writing  these  lines,  one  of  pur 
best  farmers  informs  us  that  he  prefers  August  to  any  other 
month. 

METHOD  OF  SOWING. — The  ground  should  be  very  tho. 
roughly  prepared  by  deep  and  fine  plowing,  and  the  want 
of  labor  in  this  respect  is  want  of  economy. 

If  the  soil  is  naturally  weJ  drained,  no  further  provision 
against  wet  will  be  required.  But  if  it  be  flat,  it  may  be 
well  to  lay  it  off  into  lands,  strike  a  furrow  through  the 
centre,  and  then  turn  the  furrows  toward  the  outer  on 
each  side.  This  will  give  a  slight  elevation  at  the  middle 
and  a  drain  between  each  land  sufficient  to  answer  the  pur- 
pose of  moderate  surface  draining.  The  seed  should  be  sown 
with  the  greatest  evenness  possible.  The  English  farmer  pre- 
fers to  sow  some  of  the  kinds  separately  on  this  account ;  for 


ABOUT  FRUITS,   FLOWERS   AND   FARMING.  71 

although  he  has  to  sow  the  whole  ground  several  times 
over,  experience  has  taught  him,  as  it  will  us,  that  that  is 
the  cheapest  which  is  done  the  best.  Let  it  be  covered  in 
well  with  a  harrow,  and  not  with  a  bush,  which  last  leaves 
the  soil  dead,  and  tends  to  drag  the  seed  into  patches  and 
hollows.  As  a  general  rule,  grass  seed  may  be  planted  as 
deeply  as  grain.  Farmers  lose  much  more  seed  from  shal- 
low than  from  deep  planting.  For  although  shallow-planted 
seed  vegetates  sooner,  they  are  more  liable  to  be  winter- 
killed, or  to  perish  by  drought  than  those  which  are  deeply 
covered. 


THEORY    OF    MANURE. 

IT  is  very  well  known  that  a  young  orchard  will  not,  usu- 
ally, flourish  on  the  site  of  an  old  one ;  for  the  older  trees 
are  supposed  to  have  withdrawn  from  the  soil  certain  ele- 
ments necessary  to  their  growth ;  and  as  necessary  to  the 
growth  of  the  young  tree,  should  it  be  planted  there. 
There  is  no  "like"  or  "dislike"  of  the  soil  to  the  tree ;  it 
is  a  plain  case  of  starvation.  The  tree  needs,  and  the  soil 
oannot  supply  certain  elements  of  its  wood. 

But  if,  after  a  plant  has  abstracted  from  the  soil  certain 
ingredients,  the  whole  plant  is  decomposed  and  returned  to 
the  earth,  the  soil  repossesses  itself  of  the  lost  elements,  and 
is  ready  to  yield  them  up  again  to  a  plant  of  the  same  kind. 
If  the  straw  of  wheat  be  burned  upon  the  field,  annually,  the 
soil  would  yield  fine  crops  for  a  thousand  successive  years, 
that  is  so  far  as  the  straw  is  concerned.  But  if  the  grain 
is  removed,  and  nothing  resupplies  the  drain  of  phosphates 
which  it  makes  from  the  soil,  the  soil  will  in  due  time, 
according  to  the  original  quantities  in  the  soil,  cease  to 
yield  grain,  although  the  straw  may  be  admirable.  But  if 
both  straw  and  kernel  were  every  year  burned  upon  the 


72  PLAIN  AND  PLEASANT  TALK 

field,  as  grass  and  its  seed  is  upon  the  prairies,  wheat  would 
grow  for  a  thousand  years  in  succession.  The  same  is  true 
of  corn,  of  potatoes,  and  of  any  annual  crop.  When  the 
annual  growth  is  restored  to  the  soil,  it  is  repossessed  of  all 
its  treasure  which  had  been  loaned  for  a  season.  If  a  part 
of  the  crop  is  removed,  the  soil  is  poorer  by  just  so  much 
as  the  portion  removed  contained  within  it  of  the  elements 
necessary  to  that  crop,  and  it  must  be  restored  artificially, 
i.  e.  by  manuring  j  or  by  allowing  the  earth  to  prepare 
(by  disintegration  or  decomposition  of  its  minerals)  a  new 
supply ;  t.  e.  by  fallowing.  A  forest  will  grow  for  ages  on 
the  same  spot,  for  it  returns  annually  its  leaves,  and,  grad- 
ually, by  force  of  accidents  and  the  elements,  its  twigs, 
branches,  trunks,  etc.,  to  the  soil  again.  But  let  the  whole 
product  be  gradually  removed,  and  the  soil  would  soon  be 
unable  to  supply  the  trees  their  nourishment,  except  in  cases 
where  the  soil  was  very  rich  in  the  materials  of  growth. 
The  forests  of  Germany,  like  our  mines,  are  under  the  man- 
agement of  the  government.  It  was  customary,  for  a  time, 
to  allow  the  peasants  the  use  of  the  twigs  and  smaller 
branches  /  but  analysis  has  shown  that  in  these,  especially, 
resides  the  large  proportion  of  potash  entering  into  the 
composition  of  trees ;  the  annual  removal  of  it  debilitated 
the  trees  to  an  extent  that  obliged  the  Conservators  to 
change  their  mode  of  proceeding. 

On  the  other  hand,  in  one  of  Mr.  Horsford's  letters  from 
Germany,  we  have  the  question  of  growing  plants  upon 
their  own  ashes,  brought,  by  the  ablest  chemist  of  the  age, 
directly  to  the  test  of  experiment. 

"  In  the  spring  preceding  my  arrival  in  Giessen,  Professor 
Liebig  planted  some  grape  scions  under  the  windows  of  the 
laboratory.  He  fed  them,  if  I  may  use  such  an  expression, 
upon  the  ashes  of  the  grape  vine — or  upon  the  proper  inor- 
ganic food  of  the  grape,  as  shown  by  analyses  of  its  ashes. 
The  growth  has  been  enormous,  and  several  of  the  vines 
bore  large  clusters  of  grapes  in  the  course  of  the  season. 


ABOUT   FRUITS,    FLOWERS   AND   FARMING.  73 

Indeed,  I  know  not  but  all,  as  my  attention  was  drawn  to 
tliL-m  particularly  only  since  the  fruit  has  been  gathered. 
The  soil  otherwise  is  little  better  than  a  pavement — a  kind 
of  fine  gravel,  in  which  scarcely  anything  takes  root. 

"  I  was  shown  pots  of  wheat,  in  different  stages  of  their 
growth,  that  had  been  fed  variously — some  upon  the  inor- 
ganic matters  they  needed,  according  to  the  analyses  of 
their  ashes — others  had  merely  shared  the  tribute  of  the 
general  soil.  The  results  in  numbers  I  don't  yet  know.  In 
appearance,  no  one  could  be  at  a  loss  to  judge  of  what  might 
be  expected." 

The  fact  that  depopulated  forest-grounds  change  the 
character  of  their  growth,  is  quite  familiar  to  all ;  and  the 
icasons  of  it  have  been  variously  debated. 


FODDER    FOR    CATTLE. 

ALTHOUGH  the  practice  of  soiling  cattle,  i.  e.  of  cutting 
their  food  daily  and  feeding  it  to  them  in  a  green  state, 
would  be  profitable  to  many  small  farmers,  it  is  especially 
to  be  recommended  to  those  living  in  towns,  where  pastur- 
age is  distant  and  expensive.  Where  an  immediate  supply 
is  required,  corn  may  be  sown  broadcast,  and  cut  as  wanted, 
until  it  begins  to  tassel,  when  all  should  be  cut  and  cured, 
and  the  ground  sown  again,  and  a  third  time  in  the  same 
summer. 

But  if  half  that  is  said  of  lucerne  is  true,  and  we  see  no 
reason  to  doubt  it,  it  is  valuable  far  above  all  other  kinds 
of  green  fodder.  It  starts  very  early  in  spring ;  may  be 
cut  four  times  in  a  summer,  yielding  from  four  to  nine  tons 
to  the  acre,  acccording  to  the  condition  of  the  land.  It  is 
much  relished  by  cattle,  imparts  no  bad  flavor  to  milk,  is  a 
very  fattening  food,  and  one  sowing  will  last  ten  years. 

4 


?4  PLAIN   AND   PLEASANT   TALK 

One  ncre  is  sufficient  lor  four  or  five  cows.  It  m:iy  be 
in  drills,  if  the  land  is  foul,  and  krj.t  clean  by  hoeing,  the 
;  but  on  clean  ground  it  may  he  sown  broadcast. 
It  i<  hardy  under  the  infliction  of  severe  frosts;  and  sur- 
passes all  grasses  in  endurance  of  drought,  its  enormously 
land  roots  affording  it  moisture  from  a  great  depth.  An 
English  writer  says,  its  roots  have  been  found  from  ten 
to  fourteen  feet  below  the  surface  ;  and  an  American  writer 
says,  that  it  made,  on  his  land,  roots  three  feet  long  the  first 
summer. 

Where  it  is  sown  broadcast,  it  is  difficult  to  get  it  through 
the  first  year.  But  if  sown  in  drills  ten  inches  apart,  and 
hoed  once  or  twice,  it  may  be  cut  twice  or  thrice  the  first 
season,  and  be  entirely  established  before  winter. 

A  light,  sandy  soil  is  the  best ;  it  should  not  be  put  upon 
heavy  and  non-friable  soils,  though  it  will  flourish  on  even 
these,  when  fully  established.  Ten  pounds  of  seed  to  the 
acre  is  enough,  if  drilled ;  fifteen  pounds,  if  sown  broad- 
cast. 

The  only  reason,  that  we  can  imagine,  why  this  plant 
should  not  be  extensively  cultivated,  is,  the  disrelish  which 
our  farmers  too  often  have  to  any  crop  requiring  much  care. 
To  slash  along  with  a  plow  is  all  well  enough  ;  but  to  hoe 
and  weed  is  rather  tedious.  But  these  operations  are 
required  only  during  the  first  part  of  the  first  year. 


CAMPHOR  FOR  FLOWERS. — Two  or  three  drops  of  a  satu- 
rated solution  of  camphor  in  alcohol,  put  into  half  an  ounce 
of  soft  water,  forms  a  mixture  which  will  revive  flowers 
that  have  begun  to  droop  and  wilt,  and  give  them  freshness 
for  a  long  time. 


ABOUT  FBUTTS,   FLOWERS   AND  FARMING.  75 


THE    SCIENCE    OF    BAD    BUTTER. 

WE  once  took  occasion  to  give  our  opinion  of  the  hut- 
tcr  which  was  largely  brought  to  our  market.  The  article 
was  deemed  severe  ;  but  if  they  who  think  so  had  eaten  of 
the  butter  they  would  have  regarded  that  as  the  more  pun- 
gent of  the  two.  "VVe  have  waited  a  year ;  and  are  now 
prepared  more  fully  to  testify  against  that  utter  abomina- 
tion, slanderously  called  butter,  so  unrighteously  exchanged 
in  our  market  for  good  money.  Far  the  most  part,  the 
cream  is  totally  depraved  at  the  start,  and  churning,  work- 
ing, and  packing  are  only  the  successive  steps  of  an  evil 
education  by  which  bad  inclinations  are  developed  into 
overt  wickedness.  We  determined  to  keep  an  eye  upon 
the  matter;  and  now  give,  from  life,  the  natural  history  of 
the  butter  sold. 

Before  doing  this,  we  will  express  an  opinion  of  what  is 
good  butter. 

Good  butter  is  made  of  sweet  cream,  with  perfect  neat- 
ness ;  is  of  a  high  color,  perfectly  sweet,  free  from  butter- 
milk, and  possesses  a  fine  grass  flavor. 

Tolerable  butter,  differs  from  this  only  in  not  having  a 
fine  flavor.  It  is  devoid  of  all  unpleasant  taste,  but  has  not 
a  high  Telish. 

Whatever  is  less  than  this  is  bad  butter;  the  catalogue  is 
long  and  the  descending  scale  is  marked  with  more  varie- 
ties than  one  may  imagine. 

Variety  1.  BUTTER-MILK  BUTTER. — This  has  not  been 
well  worked,  and  has  the  taste  of  fresh  buttermilk.  It 
is  not  very  disagreeable  to  such  as  love  fresh  buttermilk ; 
but  as  it  is  a  flavor  not  expected  in  good  butter,  it  is  usually 
disagreeable. 

Variety  2.  STRONG  BUTTER. — This  is  one  step  farther 
along,  and  the  buttermilk  is  changing  and  beginning  to  as- 
sert its  right  to  predominate  over  the  butteraceous  flavor ; 


76  PLAIN   AND   PLEASANT  TALK 

yet  it  may  be  eaten  with  some  pleasure  if  done  rapidly, 
accompanied  with  very  good  bread. 

Variety  3.  FROWY  OK  FROWSY  BUTTER. — This  is  a  second 
«-o  of  strength  attained  by  the  buttermilk.  It  has 
luvonu'  pungent,  and  too  disagreeable  for  any  but  absent- 
minded  eaters. 

Variety  4.  RANCID  BUTTER. — This  is  the  putrescent  stage. 
No  description  will  convey,  to  those  who  have  not  tasted  it, 
an  idea  of  its  unearthly  flavor  ;  while  those  who  have,  will 
lianlly  thank  us  for  stirring  up  such  awful  remembrances  by 
any  description. 

Variety  5.  BITTER  BUTTER. — Bitterness  is,  for  the  most 
part,  incident  to  winter-butter.  When  one  has  but  little 
cream  and  is  long  in  collecting  enough  for  the  churn,  he 
will  be  very  apt  to  have  bitter  butter. 

Variety  6.  MUSTY  BUTTER. — In  summer,  especially  in 
damp,  unventilated  cellars,  cream  will  gather  mold  ;  When- 
ever this  appears,  the  pigs  should  be  set  to  churn  it.  But 
instead,  if  but  just  touched,  it  is  quickly  churned;  x>r,  if 
much  molded,  it  is  slightly  skimmed,  as  if  the  flavor  of 
mold,  which  has  struck  through  the  whole  mass,  could  be 
removed  by  taking  off  the  colored  portion !  The  peculiar 
taste  arising  from  this  affection  of  the  milk,  blessed  be  the 
man  who  needs  to  be  told  it ! 

Variety  7.  SOUR-MILK  BUTTER. — This  is  made  from  milk 
which  has  been  allowed  to  sour,  the  milk  and  cream  being 
churned  up  together.  The  flavor  is  that  of  greasy,  sour 
milk. 

Variety  8.  VINEGAR  BUTTER. — There  are  some  who 
imagine  that  all  milk  should  be  soured  before  it  is  fit  to 
churn.  When,  in  cool  weather,  it  delays  to  change,  they 
expedite  the  matter  by  some  acid — usually  vinegar.  The 
butter  strongly  retains  the  flavor  thereof. 

Variety  9.  CHEESY  BUTTER. — Cream  comes  quicker  by 
being  heated.  If  sour  cream  be  heated,  it  is  very  apt  to 


ABOUT   FRUITS,    FLOWERS    AND   FARMING.  77 

separate  and  deposit  a  irliey :  if  this  is  strained  iiito  the 
churn  with  the  cream,  the  butter  will  have  a  strong  cheesy 
flavor, 

Variety  10.  GRANULATED  BUTTER. — When,  in  winter, 
sweet  cream  is  over-heated,  preparatory  to  churning,  it  pro- 
duces butter  full  of  grains,  as  if  there  were  meal  in  it. 

Variety  11. — In  this  we  will  comprise  the  two  opposite 
kinds — too  salt  and  unsalted  butter.  We  have  seen  butter 
exposed  for  sale  with  such  masses  of  salt  in  it  that  one  is 
tempted  to  believe  that  it  was  put  in  as  a  make-weight. 
When  the  salt  is  coarse,  the  operation  of  eating  this  butter 
affords  those  who  have  good  teeth,  a  pleasing  variety  of 
grinding. 

Variety  12.  LARD  BUTTER. — When  lard  is  cheap  and 
abundant,  and  butter  rather  dear,  it  is  thought  profitable  to 
combine  the  two. 

Variety  13.  MIXED  BUTTER. — When  the  shrewd  house- 
wife has  several  separate  churnings  of  butter  on  hand,  some 
of  which  would  hardly  be  able  to  go  alone,  she  puts  them 
together,  "and  those  who  buy,  find  out  that  "Union  is 
strength!"  Such  butter  is  pleasingly  marbled;  dumps  of 
white,  of  yellow,  and  of  dingy  butter  melting  into  each 
other,  until  the  whole  is  ring-streaked  and  speckled. 

Variety  \  4.  COMPOUND  BUTTER. — By  compound  butter 
we  mean  that  which  has  received  contributions  from  things 
animate  and  inanimate ;  feathers,  hairs,  rags  of  cloth, 
threads,  specks,  chips,  straws,  seeds  ;  in  short,  everything 
is  at  one  time  or  another  to  be  found  in  it,  going  to  pro- 
duce the  three  successive  degrees  of  dirty,  filthy,  nasty. 

Variety  15.  TOUGH  BUTTER. — When  butter  is  worked  too 
long  after  the  expulsion  of  buttermilk,  it  assumes  a  gluey, 
putty-like  consistence,  and  is  tough  when  eaten.  But,  oh 
blessed  fault !  we  would  go  ten  miles  to  pay  our  admiring 
respects  to  that  much-to-be-praised  dairy-maid  whose  zeal 
leads  her  to  work  her  butter  too  much !  We  doubt,  how- 
ever, if  a  pound  of  such  butter  was  ever  seen  in  this  place. 


78  ri.AIX     AVD    IM  V. ASAXT   TALK 

Besides  all  those,  whose  history  we  have  correctly  traced ; 
Otter  la-tin;.:  of  turpentine  iroiii  beinij  made  in 
pine  churns;  butter  bent  on  travelling,  in  hot  weather; 
butter  dotted,  like  cloves  on  a  boiled  ham,  with  Hies,  which 
Solomon  assures  us  causeth  the  ointment  to  stink;  besides 
butter  in  rusty  tin  pans,  and  in  dirty  swaddling  clothes; 
besides  butter  made  of  milk  drawn  from  a  dirty  cow,  by  a 
dirtier  hand,  into  a  yet  dirtier  pail,  and  churned  in  a  churn 
the  dirtiest  of  all ;  besides  all  these  sub-varieties,  there  are 
several  others  with  which  we  have  formed  an  acquaintance, 
but  found  ourselves  baffled  at  analysis.  We  could  not  even 
guess  the  cause  of  their  peculiarities.  Oh  Dr.  Liebig  !  how 
we  have  longed  for  your  skill  in  analytic  chemistry!  What 
consternation  would  we  speedily  send  among  the  slatternly 
butter-makers,  revealing  the  mysteries  of  their  dirty  doings 
with  more  than  mesmeric  facility  ! 

And  now,  what  on  earth  is  the  reason  that  good  butter  is 
so  great  a  rarity?  Is  it  a  hereditary  curse  in  some 
families  ?  or  is  it  a  punishment  sent  upon  us  for  our  ill- 
deserts?  A  few  good  butter-makers  in  every  neighborhood 
aic  a  standing  proof  that  it  is  nothing  but  bad  housewifery; 
mere  sheer  carelessness  which  turns  the  luxury  of  the  churn 
into  an  utterly  nauseating  abomination. 

Select  cows  for  quality  and  not  for  quantity  of  milk ; 
give  them  sweet  and  sufficient  pasturage ;  keep  clean  your- 
self;  milk  into  a  clean  pail;  strain  into  clean  pans — (pans 
scalded,  scoured,  and  sunned,  and  if  tin,  with  every  particle 
of  milk  rubbed  out  of  the  seams.)  While  it  is  yet  sweet, 
churn  it;  if  it  delays  to  come,  add  a  little  saleratus  ;  work  it 
thoroughly,  three  times,  salting  it  at  the  second  working ; 
put  it  into  a  cool  place,  and  then,  when,  with  a  conscience 
as  clean  and  sweet  as  your  butter,  you  have  dispatched  your 
tempting  rolls  to  market,  you  may  sit  down  and  thank  God 
that  you  are  an  honest  woman ! 


ABOUT   FRUITS,    FLOWERS   AND   FARMING.  79 


CINCINNATI,    THE    QUEEN    CITY. 

WHATEVER  may  have  been  the  squealing  celebrity  of 
Forkopolis,  Cincinnati  seems  destined  to  merge  the  glory 
of  that  name  in  the  more  agreeable  title,  City  of.Vineyards. 
That  she  is  the  Queen  City  none  denies.  But  on  account 
of  what  single  excellence,  it  might  be  difficult,  for  some,  to 
say.  A  queen  of  slaughter-pens  might  be  a  hearty  buxom 
lass,  but,  withal,  not  exactly  the  personage  for  which 
knights  (Sancho  always  excepted)  love  to  break  lances.  A 
queen  of  foundries  and  stithies,  she  might  be,  and  not  neces- 
sarily, on  that  account,  a  ruddy  brunette ;  inasmuch  as  Sir 
Vulcan  was,  once  before,  the  husband  of  Venus — queen  of 
beauty.  A  blushing  queen  of  strawberry  beds  would  be 
quite  romantic;  but  yet  more  appropriate  if  her  jurisdic- 
tion were  extended  over  vines  and  purple  clusters  and  vine- 
yards and  orchards.  But  whether  it  be  pork,  or  iron,  or 
pinions,  or  vineyards,  or  observatories,  Cincinnati  is  acknow- 
ledged on  all  hands  to  be  the  Queen  City. 

Leaving  her  commercial  glories  out  of  view,  we  think 
Cincinnati  has  done  more  for  horticulture  than  any  Ameri- 
can city,  taking  into  the  account  her  recent  origin  and  her 
means.  In  all  other  cities  horticulture  has  been  the  child 
of  wealth  and  leisure.  It  has  followed  commercial  or  manu- 
facturing prosperity.  But  in  this  city,  it  began  with  them 
and  kept  pace  with  them ;  so  that  one  wonders  which  most 
to  admire,  the  thrift  of  industry  and  skill,  or  the  elegant 
taste  which  is  so  generally  evinced  in  the  cultivation  of 
fruit,  and  shrub  and  flower. 

The  first  volume  of  the  Transactions  of  the  Cincinnati 
Horticultural  Society,  is  eminently  worthy  of  that  enter- 
prising corporation. 

The  thoughts  of  several  principal  friends  of  horticulture 
seem  much  directed  to  the  subject  of  vine  culture,  and  the 
manufacture  of  wine.  There  are  more  than  eighty-three  vine- 
yards in  the  vicinity  of  the  city  containing  not  far  from  400 


80  1M .A IN"    AND    PLEASANT  TALK 

acres  of  land!  From  114  acres  during  the  season  of  1845i 
more  than  23,000  gallons  of  wine  were  manufactured,  an<l 
there  was  not  more  than  half  a  crop  obtained  in  that  sea- 
son. The  average  yield  of  wine  per  acre,  for  five  years 
in  succession,  is  stated  to  be  from  450  to  500  gallons  per 
annum. 

.Many  think  the  culture  of  the  grape  will  be  the  finishing 
stroke  to  the  temperance  enterprise;  affording  a  whole- 
some beverage  from  our  hills  in  place  of  "  corn  juice  "  from 
our  bottoms,  and  beer  from  our  hop  and  barley  fields. 

The  arguments  urged  by  some  with  great  sincerity, 
are  the  often-quoted  facts,  that  the  inhabitants  of  wine- 
making  countries  are  favorably  distinguished  for  temper- 
ance ;  and  that  a  palatable  and  wholesome  beverage — pure 
wine — would  supersede  the  use  of  violent  liquors.  If  we 
thought  that  our  people  would  become  temperate  upon 
such  conditions,  we  should  be  glad  to  see  a  vineyard  on 
every  hillside,  and  a  wine-vat  to  every  farmhouse.  But 
there  is  no  reason  to  expect  any  such  result.  Vineyards  in 
Europe  exist  among  a  quiet,  comparatively  unenterprising 
peasantry.  They  have  been  trained  to  moderation ;  neces- 
sity has  made  them  temperate  in  all  things — in  food,  in 
dress,  hi  expense,  and  in  drink.  The  popular  habits  are  not 
so  excitable  as  with  us ;  business  runs  in  quiet  streams, 
and  politics  are  unknown.  With  us,  business  is  boisterous, 
pleasure  obstreperous,  and  politics  outrageous.  Our  peo- 
ple are  anything  but  quiet ;  they  are  hot,  hot  in  tongue  and 
blood.  It  is  wide  enough  of  the  mark  to  suppose  that  the 
same  cause  existing  among  two  entirely  dissimilar  people, 
would,  of  course,  produce  the  same  results.  We  might  as 
well  say  that  vineyards  would  make  our  people  eat  less  meat, 
less  corn  and  pork,  because  the  residents  of  wine  districts 
were  known  to  bo  addicted  to  a  vegetable  diet.  The  pro- 
bable consequences  of  abundant  cheap  wine  must  be 
judged,  not  by  what  would  happen  in  France,  among 
abstemious  peasants,  nor  on  the  Rhine,  among  economical 


ABOUT   FRUITS,    FLOWERS    AND   FARMING.  81 

sober  Germans ;  but  by  the  tastes,  habits,  and  tenden- 
cies of  our  own  people.  In  this  land  CVCTN  tiling  tends  to 
excitement.  Men  live  upon  a  higher  key,  and  live  faster 
and  live  much  more  full  of  exhilaration  than  the  same 
<i:is^es  do  in  foreign  lands.  Our  people  drink  not  for  the 
taste  but  for  the  excitement  of  liquor ;  and,  so  that  wine, 
U-er,  or  whisky  will  bring  them  up  to  the  right  key,  the 
question  of  wholesomeness  is  quite  unimportant.  Our  peo- 
\  ',-e  are  free  and  therefore  have  a  right  to  live  in  the  violrv 
tion  of  natural  laws  ;  and  a  right,  constantly  exercised,  of 
having  fevers  on  account  of  surfeitings,  and  of  dying  early 
and  by  thousands  by  reasons  of  gross  excesses. 

Pleasures  and  business  are  esteemed  by  the  volume  o*" 
blood  which  they  can  drive,  the  pulse  they  can  raise, 
the  heat  of  excitement  which  they  can  produce.  So  long 
as  atfairs  are  fresh  and  piquant  they  are  stimulants  enough. 
But  in  the  inequalities  and  intervals  and  fatigues  of  life, 
something  else  is  required  to  hold  the  spirits  up  to  the  high 
level  upon  which  everything  proceeds.  As  soon  as  a  man 
resorts  to  alcoholic  stimulants  to  do  this,  he  has  embarked 
upon  a  course  where  all  experience  shows  that  he 
will  drink  deeper  and  deeper  to  final  downright  intem- 
perance. 

Some  people  think  that  cheap  and  wholesome  beverage  for 
the  "  masses,"  for  laboring  people,  is  desirable.  "While  it 
may  be  well  enough  for  every  gentleman  of  leisure,  it  is  to  be 
the  poor  man's  special  blessing,  saving  him  from  the  swill 
of  the  brewery  and  the  fire  of  the  still.  Facts  will  stand 
on  the  side  of  the  reverse  reasoning.  If  wine  is  to  be 
harmless  at  all,  it  will  be  with  men  who  are  not  prone  to 
enterprising  heats;  but  given  to  the  relishful  pleasure  of 
sipping  just  for  the  delicate  flavors,  for  the  aroma,  for  the 
fine  bouquet  of  wine — men  who  need  to  have  their  blood 
up,  and  kept  up,  and  resort  to  wine  to  supply  the  flagging 
stimulus  of  affairs  ;  such  men  will  not  drink  for  the  flavor, 
but  for  the  feeling. 

4* 


82  PLAIN    A\n    PI.F.ASANT  TALK 

It  is  for  the  sake  of  being  roused  ;  it  is  to  be  stimulated  ; 
it  is,  in  plain  language,  to  have  the  first  exhilarations  of 
drunkenness  that  laboring  nion  drink,  will  drink,  and  have 
always  drank  cider,  beer,  wine,  and  brandy.  The  result  of 
affording  wine  in  abundance  to  such  people  as  ours,  will  be 
to  prepare  them  for  a  stronger  drink  just  as  soon  as  wine, 
by  frequent  use,  is  no  longer  Stimulating  enough.  Wine 
will  play  jackal  to  brandy  for  the  rich,  and  to  whisky  for  the 
poor.  \Ve  have  some  facts  on  hand  touching  this  popular 
wine-drinking,  which,  if  necessary,  wre  shall  employ  at 
another  time.  Meanwhile,  we  are  glad  to  see  grape-cul- 
ture spreading  for  the  production  of  table-grapes ;  for  the 
manufacture  of  wine,  in  so  far  as  a  supply  of  pure  wine  is 
needed  for  medicinal  purposes.  Further  than  that,  we  are 
opposed  to  wine-making.  And  as  to  cheating  whisky  out 
of  its  authority  over  " the  dear  people"  by  the  blandi>h- 
ments  of  hock  and  champagne,  or  redeeming  our  barley 
and  cornfields  from  the  abominable  persecutions  of  the 
brew-tub  and  the  still,  by  the  conservative  energy  or  evan- 
gelizations of  grape  juice,  we  shall  believe  it  when  we  see 
it;  and  we  shall  just  as  soon  expect  to  see  fire  putting  out 
fire  and  frost  melting  ice,  as  one  degree  of  alcoholic  stimu- 
lus curing  a  higher  one. 


To  PRESERVE  GARDEN  STICKS. — It  is  desirable 
one  has  prepared  good  sticks  for  supporting  carnations, 
roses,  dahlias,  etc.,  to  preserve  them  from  year  to  year.  The 
following  preparation  will  make  them  last  a  man's  lifetime  : 
When  they  are  freshly  made,  allow  them  to  become  tho- 
roughly dry;  then  soak  them  in  linseed  oil  for  some  tin; 
two  or  three  days.  When  taken  out  let  them  stand  to  dry 
till  the  oil  is  perfectly  soaked  in ;  then  paint  with  two  coats 
of  verdigris  paint.  No  wet  can  then  penetrate. 


ABOUT  FRUITS,    FLOWERS   AND   FARMING.  83 

CARE    OF     ANIMALS    IN    WINTER. 

THE  wisest  man  has  said  that  "  the  righteous  man  regard- 
eth  the  life  of  his  beast ;  but  the  tender  mercies  of  the 
wicked  are  cruel."  If  any  one  is  at  a  loss  to  know  the 
meaning  of  the  latter  part,  he  cannot  have  made  good  use 
of  his  eyes.  Lean  cattle,  leaner  horses,  anatomical  speci- 
mens of  cows,  half  fed,  dirty,  drenched  by  every  rain,  and 
pierced  by  every  winter  wind,  these  are  an  excellent  com- 
ment OR  the  passage. 

It  is  time  for  every  merciful  man  to  make  provision  for 
every  dumb  animal  which  is  dependent  upon  him. 

Cows  should  be  provided  with  a  comfortable  stable  at 
night.  No  feeding  will  be  a  substitute  for  good  shelter. 
Both  the  quantity  and  quality  of  the  milk  will  depend  upon 
bodily  comfort  in  respect  to  warmth  and  nutritious  food. 
Such  as  are  becoming  heavy  with  calf  should  be  specially 
cared  for.  Many  farmers  let  their  cows  shift  for  themselves 
as  soon  as  their  milk  dries  away.  But  the  health  of  the 
coming  calf  and  the  ability  of  the  cow  to  supply  it,  and  her 
owner,  copiously  with  milk  depend  on  the  condition  in 
which  she  is  kept  during  the  period  of  gestation. 

Cattle  should  have  a  good  shed  provided  for  them,  under 
which  they  may  be  dry  and  sheltered  from  winds.  It  is  the 
curse  of  western  farming  that  cattle  and  fodder  are  so  plenty 
that  it  is  hardly  a  loss  to  waste  both. 

Where  the  amount  of  stock  is  too  great  for  comfortable 
home-quarters,  and  they  are  wintered  in  a  stock  field,  there 
should  be  places  of  resort  for  them,  so  high  as  to  remain 
dry,  well  turfed  with  blue-grass,  and  sheltered  with  cheap 
si  KM  Is,  or  by  belts  of  forest. 

Sheep  should  receive  special  attention.  They  abhor  vet. 
They  should  be  permitted  to  keep  their  fleece  dry,  and  to 
eat  their  food  in  a  dry  stable.  The  flock  should  be  sorted. 
The  bucks  and  wethers  by  themselves,  the  ewes  by  them- 
selves ;  lambs  and  weak  sheep  in  another  division ;  and  a 


84  1M..MN     AND    1M.KASANT    TALK 

fourth  compartment  should  never  be  wanting  for  the  sick, 
where  they  may  be  nursed  and  medically  treated. 

//•/»6'  are  more  apt  to  be  taken  eare  of  than  eattle. 
But  even  they  are  often  inure  indebted  for  existence  to  a 
stubborn  tenacity  of  life,  than  to  the  can1  of  their  keepers. 
The  horse  is  a  more  dainty  feeder  than  ruminating  animals. 
He  should  be  supplied  with  a,  better  article  of  hay;  his 
grain  should  never  be  dirty  or  musty. 

Hardy  farm-horses  may  even  rough  out  the  winter  with- 
out blanketing  or  any  other  care  than  is  necessary  to  sup- 
ply good  food  and  enough  of  it.  But  carriage  horses,  and 
those  highly  prized  for  the  saddle — aristocratic  horses — 
should  be  more  carefully  groomed.  It  is  not  wise  to  blan- 
ket a  horse  at  all,  unless  it  can  be  always  done.  If  he  is 
liable  to  change  hands ;  to  be  off  on  journeys  under  cir- 
cumstances hi  which  he  cannot  be  blanketed  at  night,  it  will 
be  better  not  to  begin  it. 

Winter  is  a  good  time  to  kill  off  spirited  horses.  They 
are  easily  run  down  by  a  smashing  sleigh-ride  pace.  Boys 
and  girls,  buzzing  in  a  double  sleigh  like  a  hive  of  bees, 
think  that  the  horses  enjoy  themselves,  at  the  exhilarating 
pace  of  six  or  eight  miles  an  hour,  as  much  as  they  do. 
But  this  is  not  ordinarily  the  worst  of  it.  The  horse  stands 
out,  after  a  trip  of  ten  or  fifteen  miles,  at  a  post  for  am  hour 
or  two  until  thoroughly  chilled ;  then  home  he  races,  and 
goes  into  the  stable,  steaming  writh  sweat,  to  stand  without 
blankets  all  night.  Horses  catch  cold  as  much  as  men  do. 
And  a  horse-cold  is  just  as  bad  as  a  human  cold.  As  there 
Las  been  some  difficulty,  in  the  construction  of  fanning  mills, 
to  gain  a  strong  enough  current  of  wind,  we  would  advise 
the  builders  of  them  to  study  the  construction  of  a  good 
stable. 


ABOUT  FRUITS,   FLOWERS   AND   FARMING.  85 


WINTER    NIGHTS    FOR    READING. 

As  the  winter  is  a  season  of  comparative  leisure,  it  is  the 
time  for  farmers  to  study.  It  is  a  good  time  for  them  to 
make  themselves  acquainted  with  the  nature  of  soils,  of 
manures,  of  vegetable  organization — or  structural  botany. 
Farmers  are  liable  to  rely  wholly  upon  their  own  experi- 
ence, and  to  despise  science.  Book-men  are  apt  to  rely  on 
scientific  theories,  and  nothing  upon  practice.  If  these 
two  tendencies  would  only  court  and  marry  each  other, 
what  a  hopeful  family  would  they  rear !  How  nice  it  would 
look  to  see  in  the  papers : 

MARRIED. — By  Philosophical  Wisdom,  Esq.,  Mr.  Prac- 
tical Experience,  to  Miss  Sober  Science.  [We  will  stand 
godfather  to  all  the  children.] 


FEATHERS. 

THE  quality  of  feathers  depends  on  their  strength,  elasti- 
city and  cleanness ;  and  these,  again,  depend  upon  the  condi- 
tion of  the  bird,  its  health,  food,  and  the  time  of  plucking 
its  feathers.  Down  is  the  term  applied  to  under-feaihers — 
most  abundant  in  water  fowl,  and  in  those  especially  which 
live  in  cold  latitudes,  being  designed  to  protect  them  from 
wet  and  cold.  The  eider-down,  from  the  eider-duck,  is  of 
the  most  repute.  It  is  brought  from  extreme  northern 
latitudes,  and  is  used  for  coverings  to  beds,  rather  than  for 
beds  themselves,  as,  by  being  slept  upon,  it  loses  its  elasti- 
city. 

Poultry  feathers,  as  those  of  turkeys,  ducks,  and  chick- 
ens, if  assorted  and  the  coarse  ones  rejected,  afford  very 
good  beds ;  but  they  are  not  so  elastic  as  geese-feathers. 


86  PLAIN    AM)   PLEASANT  TALK 

Everybody    knows    that    live    geese-feathers     are    the 
ry  one  does  not  think  of  tin*   reason  ;    which, 
as  it  is  the  key  to  the   art  of  having  good  feathers,  we 
shall  propound. 

So  long  as  a  bird  is  alive,  the  feathers  are  as  much  an 
object  of  nutrition  as  the  llesh,  the  bones,  or  any  other 
part  of  the  body. 

When  dead,  put  them  into  hot  water  to  make  the  feathers 
come  easy.  In  pulling,  take  out  large  handfuls  at  a  time, 
so  as  to  have  scraps  of  meat  and  shreds  of  skin  adhere 
to  the  quill;  let  them  lie  for  several  days  in  wet  heaps 
to  ferment  a  little.  Then  dry  them  suddenly  by  violent 
heat,  cram  them  into  the  bed-tick,  and  jump  on,  and  if  you 
have  not  an  odorous  bed,  and,  in  a  month  or  two,  a  bedful 
of  visitors  seeking  food,  then  there  is  no  truth  in  the  laws 
of  nature. 

The  care  of  beds  is  not  understood,  often,  by  even  good 
housewives.  When  a  bed  is  freshly  made  it  often  smells 
strong.  Constant  airing,  will,  if  the  feathers  are  good,  and 
only  new,  remove  the  scent. 

A  bed  in  constant  use  should  be  invariably  beaten  and 
shaken  up  daily,  to  enable  the  feathers  to  retain  their  elasti- 
city. 

It  should  lie  after  it  is  shaken  up,  for  two  or  three  hours 
a  day,  in  a  well  ventilated  room.  The  human  body  is  con- 
stantly giving  off  a  perspiration;  and  at  night  more  than 
usual,  from  the  relaxed  condition  of  the  skin.  The  bed 
will  become  foul  from  this  cause  if  not  well  aired.  If  the. 
bed  is  in  a  room  which  cannot  be  spared  for  such  a  length 
of  time,  it  should  be  put  out  to  air  two  full  days  in  tin- 
week. 

In  airing  beds,  the  sun  should  never  shine  directly  upon 
them.  It  is  air,  not  heat,  that  they  need.  We  lia\< 

iying  on  a  roof  where  the  direct  and  reilecled  rays  of 
the  sun  had  full  power,  and  the  feathers,  without  dmibt, 
were  stewing,  and  the  oil  in  the  quill  becoming  rancid ;  so 


ABOUT    HCVXlftf     l-M.<)Wi:i:s    AND    FARMING.     •  87 

th:it  the  bed  smells  worse  after  its  roasting  than  before. 
Always  air  beds  in  the  shade,  and,  if  possible,  in  cool  and 
/  t/iti/s.  And  now,  it'  any  of  our  attentive  housewife- 
n -adi-rs,  and  we  have  not  a  few,  are  disposed  to  reward  us 
for  all  this  advice,  let  them  give  us  a  bed  to  sleep  on,  when 
we  next  visit  them,  made  of  growing  feathers,  from  live 
air.d  healthy  geese,  carefully  picked,  well  cured,  daily  shaken 
up  and  thoroughly  aired  ;  and  if  we  do  not  dream  that  the 
owner  is  an  angel,  it  will  be  because  we  are  too  much  occu- 
pied in  sound  sleeping. 


NAIL    UP    YOUR    BUGS. 

"  The  words  of  the  wise  are  as  goads  and  as  nails  fastened  by  masters 
of  assemblies." — SOLOMON. 

AFTER  a  great  pother  about  canker  worms,  peach-tree 
worms,  and  other  audacious  robber-worms;  after  smoke, 
salt,  tar,  and  tansy,  bands  of  wool,  cups  of  oil,  lime,  ashes, 
and  surgery  have  been  set  forth  as  remedies,  to  the  confu- 
sion of  those  who  have  tried  them  bootlessly,  it  now  appears 
that  #e  are  about  to  nail  the  rascals.  The  Boston  Cultiva- 
tor, contains  an  article  "  On  Destroying  Insects  on  Trees," 
from  which  we  quote  : 

"  I  did  not  intend  to  give  it  publicity  until  I  had  fully 
tested  it,  but  as  the  ravages  are  very  extensive  in  the  West, 
I  cannot  delay  giving  you  the  experiment,  hoping  that 
some  of  your  western  readers  may  now  give  it  a  fair  trial 
and  report  the  result.  I  will  give  one  case  which  may 
it.duce  the  experiment  wherever  the  evil  i^  felt.  In  conver- 
sation witli  a  friend  in  Newburyport,  Dr.  Watson,  last 
fall,  I  mentioned  the  experiment;  he  invited  me  to  his 
garden,  where  last  year  a  fruit-tree  was  infested  with  the 


88  1M.AIN   AND   PLEASANT  TALK 

nests  of  caterpillar  or  canker-worms,  as  were  his  neighbors' 
;  he  showed  me  a  board  naileil  for  convenience  of  a 
clothes-line  upon  one  of  the  lar^e  limits  of  the-  tree;  he  said 
he  noticed  a  little  while  afterward  that  the  nests  on  that  limb 
dried  up,  and  the  worms  disappeared,  though  the  cause  did 
not  then  occur  to  him  though  apparent  as  it  will  be  to  any 
scientific  mind. 

"Drive  carefully  well  home,  so  that  the  bark  will  heal 
over  a,  few  headless  cast  iron  nails,  say  some  six  or  eight, 
size  and  number  according  to  the  size  of  the  tree,  in  a  ring 
around  its  body,  a  foot  or  two  above  the  ground.  The 
oxidation  of  the  iron  by  the  sap,  will  evolve  ammonia, 
which  will,  of  course,  with  the  rising  sap,  impregnate  every 
part  of  the  foliage,  and  prove  to  the  delicate  palate  of 
the  patient,  a  nostrum,  which  will  soon  become,  as  in 
many  cases  of  larger  animals,  the  real  panacea  for  the  ills  of 
life,  via  Tomb.  I  think  if  the  ladies  should  drive  some 
small  iron  brads  into  some  limbs  of  any  plant  infested  with 
any  insect,  they  would  find  it  a  good  and  safe  remedy,  and 
I  imagine  in  any  case,  instead  of  injury,  the  ammonia  will  be 
found  particularly  invigorating.  Let  it  be  tried  upon  a 
limb  of  any  tree,  where  there  is  a  vigorous  nest  of  cater- 
pillars, and  watch  it  for  a  week  or  ten  days,  and  I  think  the 
result  will  pay  for  the  nails." 

Let  our  farmers  take  their  hammers  and  nails  and  start 
for  the  orchard  ;  if  they  see  a  bug  on  the  tree,  drive  a  nail, 
and  he  is  a  bug  no  more!  If  they  see  a  worm,  in  with 
a  nail,  and  the  "ammonia  evolved"  will  finish  his 
functions ! 

The  Southern  Planter  is  out  with  a  backer  tp  the  Boston 
Cultivator  : 

"  A  singular  fact,  and  one  worthy  of  being  recorded,  was 
mentioned  to  us  a  few  days  since  by  Mr.  Alexander  Duke, 
of  Albemarle.  He  stated  that  whilst  on  a  visit  to  a  neigh- 
bor, his  attention  was  called  to  a  large  peach  orchard,  every 
tree  in  which  had  been  totally  destroyed  by  the  ravages  of 


ABOUT   FRUITS,    FLOWERS    AND   FARMING.  89 

the  worm,  with  the  exception  tf  three,  and  these  three  were 
probably  the  most  thrifty  and  flourishing  peach-trees  he  ever 
saw.  The  only  cause  of  their  superiority  known  to  his  host, 
WBB  an  experiment  made  in  consequence  of  observing  that 
those  parts  of  worm-eaten  timber  into  which  nails  had  been 
driven,  were  generally  sound;  when  his  trees  were  about 
a  year  old  he  had  selected  three  of  them  and  driven  a 
tenpenny  nail  through  the  body,  as  near  the  ground  as  pos- 
sible ;  whilst  the  balance  of  his  orchard  has  gradually  failed, 
and  finally  yielded  entirely  to  the  ravages  of  the  worms, 
these  three  trees,  selected  at  random,  treated  precisely  in 
the  same  manner,  with  the  exception  of  the  nailing,  had 
always  been  vigorous  and  healthy,  furnishing  him  at  that 
very  period  with  the  greatest  profusion  of  the  most 
luscious  fruit.  It  is  supposed  that  the  salts  of  iron  afforded 
by  the  nail  are  offensive  to  the  worm,  whilst  they  are  harm- 
less, or  perhaps  even  beneficial  to  the  tree." 

We  do  not  wish  to  interrupt  any  experiments  which  the 
enterprising  may  choose  to  make.  To  be  sure  we  regard 
the  facts  with  some  incredulity,  and  the  chemical  explana- 
tions with  something  of  the  mirthful  superadded  to  unbelief. 
]>iit  if  nails  are  an  antidote  to  worms — a  real  vermifuge — 
let  them  be  administered,  whatever  may  be  the  explana- 
tions; whether  they  are  an  electric  battery,  giving  the 
insects  a  little  domestic,  vegetable  lightning,  or  whether 
they  afford  "salts  of  iron"  to  physic  them,  or  "evolve 
ammonia  "  in  such  potent,  pungent  strength  that  vermicular 
nostrils  are  unable  to  endure  it ! 

While  one  is  fairly  engaged  in  a  campaign  of  experi- 
ments, we  heartily  hope  that  war  will  be  carried  to  the  very 
territory  of  ignorance,  and  we  will  propound  several  other 
important  questions  of  fact  and  theory,  which,  if  settled, 
will  crown  somebody's  brow  with  laurels. 

It  is  said  that  hanging  a  scythe  in  a  plum-tree,  or  an  iron 
hoop,  or  horse  shoes,  will  insure  a  crop  of  plums.  This 
ought  to  be  investigated. 


90  PLAIN   AND   PLEASANT  TALK 

It  is  said  that  pear-trees  that  are  unfruitful,  maybe  mrido 
to  bear,  by  digging  under  them,  cutting  the  tap  rout,  and 
burying  a  black  cat  there.  We  do  not  kno\v  as  it  makes 
any  difference  as  to  the  sex  of  the  cat,  though  we  should, 
if  trying  it,  rather  prefer  the  male  cat. 

Lastly,  that  we  may  contribute  our  mite  to  the  advance- 
ment of  science,  we  will  state  that,  in  our  youth,  we  were- 
informed,  that,  if  we  would  go  into  the  wood-house  once  a 
day  and  rub  our  hands  with  a  chip,  without  thinking  of  red 
f«xjs  tail,  the  warts  would  all  go  off.  We  have  no  doubt 
that  it  would  have  been  successful,  but  every  time  we  tried 
the  experiment,  whisk  came  the  red  fox's  tail  into  our  head 
•ind  spoilt  the  whole  affair.  But  might  this  not  cure  warts 
on  trees? 


ASHhS    AND    THEIR    USE. 

SOME  soils  contain  already  the  chemical  ingredients  which 
wood  ashes  supply.  If  lime  be  applied  to  a  calcareous  soil, 
it  will  do  no  good ;  there  was  no  want  of  lime  there  before ; 
if  potash  be  added  to  a  soil  already  abounding  in  it,  no 
effect  will  be  seen  in  the  crops.  Ashes  contain  lime  and 
potash  (phosphate  of  lime  and  silicate  of  potash).  If  a 
soil  is  naturally  rich  in  these,  the  addition  of  ashes  would 
be  useless.  Such  cases  show  the  true  benefits  of  a  really 
scientific  knowledge  of  soils  and  manures.  Every  plant  that 
grows  takes  out  of  the  soil  certain  qualities.  Wheat,  among 
other  things,  extracts  largely  of  its  potash;  Indian  corn 
•il --tracts  but  little;  potatoes  extract  phosphate  of  mag- 
.  etc.  A  chemist  would  say,  at  once,  apply  that  kind 
of  manure  which  is  rich  in  the  peculiar  property  extracted 
by  your  wheat,  corn,  or  potatoes  !  What  manure  is  that 
Here  again  science  must  help.  It  analyzes  manures — gives 
the  farmer  the  choice  among  them.  The  soil  being  known, 


ABOUT   FRUITS,    FLOWERS   AND   FARMING.  91 

the  properties  required  by  different  crops  being  known — 
tin-  limii'T  applies  that  manure  which  contains  what  the  soil 
lacks.  Experiments  have  seemed  to  show,  that,  for  purposes 
of  tillage,  leached  ashes  are  just  as  good  as  the  unleached. 
So  that  housewives  may  have  all  the  use  of  their  ashes  for 
soap,  and  then  employ  them  in  the  garden.  Leached  ashes 
become  better  by  being  exposed  for  some  time  in  the  air, 
absorbing  from  the  atmosphere  fertilizing  qualities  (car- 
bonic acid  ?) 

So  valuable  are  ashes  regarded  in  Europe,  that  they  are 
frequently  hauled  by  farmers  from  twenty  miles'  distance — 
and  on  Long  Island  they  bring  eight  cents  a  bushel. 

The  ashes  of  different  kinds  of  wood  are  of  very  unequal 
value — that  of  the  oak  the  least,  and  that  of  beech  the 
most  valuable.  The  latter  wood  constitutes  two-thirds  of 
the  fire-wood  of  this  region,  and  the  ashes  are  therefore  the 
very  best. 

A  coat  of  ashes  maybe  laid,  in  the  spring,  over  the  whole 
garden  and  spaded  in  with  the  barnyard  manure. 

They  may  be  dug  in  about  gooseberry  and  currant 
bushes. 

They  are  excellent  about  the  trunks  of  fruit-trees,  spread- 
ing the  old  each  year,  and  renewing  the  deposit. 

They  may  be  thinly  spread  over  the*  grass-plat  in  the 
dooryard,  as  they  will  give  vigor  and  deeper  color  and 
strength  to  the  grass. 

We  have  usually  added  about  one  shovelful  of  ashes  to 
every  twenty  in  making  a  compost  for  flowers,  roses,  shrubs, 
etc. 

Ashes  are  peculiarly  good  for  all  kinds  of  melon,  squash, 
and  cucumber  vines.  This  is  well  known  to  those  who 
raise  watermelons  on  burnt  fields,  on  old  charcoal  pits,  etc. 
AYe  have  si-en  statements  of  cucumbers  being  planted 
upon  a  peck  of  pure,  leached  ashes,  in  a  hole  in  the  ground, 
and  thriving  with  great  vigor.  The  ashes  of  vines  show  a 
great  amount  of  potash ;  and  as  wood  ashes  afford  this  sub- 


92  PLAIN  AND   PLEASANT  TALK 

stance  abundantly,  its  use  would  seem  to  be  indicated  by 
theory  MS  well  as  confirmed  by  experiment. 

Lastly,  whenever  ground  is  liable  to  suffer  severely  from 
drought,  we  would  advise  a  liberal  use  of  ashes  and  salt. 


HARD    TIMES. 

WHAT  are  called  hard  times  produce  veiy  different 
effects  on  different  individuals.  Some  are  made  more 
industrious,  and  some  more  indolent  ;  some  grow  frugal 
and  careful,  others  careless  and  desperate ;  some  never 
appear  so  honest  as  when  brought  to  the  pinch,  but  many 
men  seem  honest  until  they  are  brought  to  the  trial,  and 
then  give  way.  Hard  times  are  gradually  passing  away. 
As  a  community,  are  we  better  or  worse  off  than  before  ? 
A  few  particulars  may  help  us  to  form  some  judgment. 

Fewer  goods  are  bought  at  the  store,  and  more  are  man- 
ufactured at  home ;  spinning-wheels  and  looms  have 
renewed  their  youth — and  so  have  our  mothers,  who,  after 
along  disuse,  may  now  be  seen  working  as  merrily  at  them, 
as  they  used  to  do  when  they  spun  and  wove  their  wedding 
furnishings — although  they  have  not  now  any  such  rosy 
hope  to  quicken  their  aged  fingers.  Men  have  been 
obliged  to  rely  more  upon  their  own  ingenuity — for  want 
of  money  to  pay  the  carpenter,  the  blacksmith,  the  shoe- 
maker, etc.  Old  clothes,  old  tools  have  been  made  to  serve 
an  additional  campaign. 

The  leisure  of  dull  times  has  been  improved  exteifeively 
in  setting  out  orchards,  and  we  hope  this  practice  will  be 
continued  in  busy  times.  No  one  has,  during  the  pressure, 
suffered  for  food,  raiment,  or  shelter.  Indeed,  it  is  supposed 
that  not  a  pound  less  of  sugar,  tea  and  coffee,  has  been  used 
by  the  farmers  than  hitherto.  Probably  the  quantity  has 
increased. 


ABOUT   FRUITS,    FLOWERS   AND   FARMING.  93 

Debts  have  been  gradually  contracted  or  discharged. 
.Men  liavo  seen  the  end  of  speculations  to  be  sudden  disaster 
— and  (of  all  things  on  earth)  speculation-farming  has 
received  its  reward.  Men  contented  with  small  gains — in- 
dustrious, frugal,  and  prudent  men — have  suffered  almost 
nothing. 


GYPSUM. — "  Time  and  practice  "  have  ascertained  the 
circumstances  under  which  gypsum  should  be  applied.  As 
a  reason  why,  after  repeated  applications,  it  no  longer 
benefits,  Prof.  Liebig  says,  "  when  we  increase  the  crop  of 
hay  in  a  meadow  by  means  of  gypsum,  we  remove  a  greater 
quantity  of  potash  with  the  hay,  than  can,  under  ordinary 
circumstances,  be  restored.  Hence  it  happens  that,  after 
the  lapse  of  several  years,  the  crops  of  grass  on  lands 
manured  with  gypsum,  diminish,  owing  to  the  deficiency  of 
potash."  In  such  a  case,  if  spent  ashes  were  employed  either 
in  connection  or  alternately  with  gypsum — potash  would  be 
resupplied  from  the  ashes. 


ACCLIMATING     A     PLOW. 

THE  other  day  we  were  riding  past  a  large  farm,  and 
were  much  gratified  at  a  device  of  the  owner  for  the  preser- 
vation of  his  tools.  A  good  plow,  apparently  new  in  the 
spring,  had  been  left  in  one  corner  of  the  field,  standing  in 
the  furrow,  just  where,  four  months  before,  the  boy  had 
finished  his  stint.  Probably  the  timber  needed  seasoning — 
it  was  certainly  getting  it.  Perhaps  it  was  left  out  for 
acclimation.  May-be  the  farmer  left  it  there  to  save  time 
in  the  hurry  of  the  spring-work,  in  dragging  it  from  tho 


94  PLAIN   AND   PLEASANT  TALK 

shod.  Perhaps  lie  covered  the  share  to  keep  it  from  the 
dements,  and  snve  it  from  rusting.  Or,  again,  perhaps  he 
is  troubled  with  neighbors  that  bvrroir,  and  had  left  it  where 
it  would  be  convenient  for  them.  He  might,  at  least,  liave 
built  a  little  shed  over  it.  Can  any  one  tell  what  a  limner 
-  a  plow  out  a  whole  season  for  ?  It  is  barely  possible 
that  he  was  an  Irishman,  and  had  planted  for  a  spring  crop 
of  plows. 

After  we  got  to  sleep  that  night,  we  dreamed  a  dream. 
We  went  into  that  man's  barn  ;  boards  were  kicked  off, 
partitions  were  half  broken  down,  racks  broken,  floor  a  foot 
deep  with  manure,  hay  trampled  under  foot  and  AV 
grain  squandered.  The  wagon  had  not  been  hauled  under 
the  shed,  though  it  wras  raining.  The  harness  was  scattered 
about — hames  in  one  place,  the  breeching  in  another — the 
lines  Were  used  for  halters.  We  went  to  the  house.  A 
shed  stood  hard  by,  in  which  a  family  wagon  was  kept  for 
wife  and  daughters  to  go  to  town  in.  The  hens  had  appro- 
priated it  as  a  roost,  and  however  plain  it  was  once,  it  was 
ornamented  now,  inside  and  out.  (Here,  by  the  way,  let  it 
be  remembered  that  hen-dung  is  the  best  manure  for  melons, 
squashes,  cucumbers,  etc.)  We  peeped  into  the  smoke- 
house, but  of  all  the  "  fixings  "  that  we  ever  saw !  A  Chinese 
Museum  is  nothing  to  it.  Onions,  soap-grease,  squashes, 
hogs'  bristles,  soap,  old  iron,  kettles,  a  broken  spinning- 
wheel,  a  churn,  a  grindstone,  bacon,  hams,  washing  tubs,  a 
barrel  of  salt,  bones  with  the  meat  half  cut  off,  scraps  of 
leather,  dirty  bags,  a  chest  of  Indian  meal,  old  boots, 
smoked  sausages,  the  ashes  and  brands  that  remained  since 
the  last  "  smoke,"  stumps  of  brooms,  half  a  barrel  of  rotten 
apples,  together  with  rats,  bacon  bugs,  earwigs,  sowings, 
and  other  vermin  which  collect  in  damp  dirt.  We  started 
for  the  house  ;  the  window  near  the  door  had  twelve  lights, 
two  of  wood,  two  of  hats,  four  of  paper,  one  of  a  bunch  of 
rags,  one  of  a  pillow,  and  the  rest  of  glass.  Under  it 
stood  several  cooking  pots,  and  several  that  were  not  for 


ABOUT   FRUITS,    FLOWERS   AND   FARMING.  95 

cooking.  As  we  were  meditating  whether  to  enter,  such  a 
squall  arose  from  a  quarrelling  man  and  woman,  that  we 
awoke — and  lo  !  it  was  a  dream.  So  that  the  man  who  left 
his  plow  out  all  the  season,  may  live  in  the  neatest  house  in 
the  county,  for  all  that  we  know  ;  only,  was  it  not  strange 
that  we  should  have  dreamed  all  this  from  just  seeing  a 
plow  left  out  in  the  furrow. 


SCOUR    YOUR    PLOWS    BRIGHT! 

FARMERS  may  be  surprised  to  know  that  their  crops  will 
depend  a  good  deal  on  the  color  of  the  plows !  yet  so  it  is. 
Bright  plows  are  found  to  produce  much  better  crops  than 
any  other.  It  may  be  electricity,  or  magic  for  aught  we 
know ;  we  merely  state  the  fact,  leaving  others  to  account 
for  it.  But  very  much  depends  upon  the  manner  of  doing 
it,  for  merely  scrubbing  it  by  hand  with  emery  or  sand  is 
not  the  thing — it  must  be  scoured  by  the  soil.  It  is  found 
that  the  subsoil  scours  it  better  for  wheat,  than  the  top  soil 
— for  a  plow  kept  bright  by  very  deep  plowing  affords  bet- 
ter wheat  than  a  plow  brightened  by  the  surface  of  the  soil. 
It  is  the  same  with  corn.  In  respect  to  this  last  crop,  if  you 
will  keep  your  plow  bright  as  a  mirror  until  the  corn  is  in 
the  milk,  you  will  find  that  it  will  have  a  wonderful  effect. 
We  appeal  to  every  good  farmer  if  he  ever  knew  a  rusty  plow 
to  be  accompanied  with  good  crops  ?  Iron  rust  on  a  plow- 
share is  poisonous  to  corn. 

A  young-  fanner  of  about  twenty  years  of  age  said  to  us 
the  other  day :  "  If  anybody  wants  me,  he  must  come  to 
my  corn-field  ;  I  live  there — I  am  at  it  all  the  time — I  have 
harrowed  my  corn  once,  plowed  five  times,  and  gone  over 
it  with  the  hoe  once."  "Yes,"  said  his  old  father,  who 
eoeiiied,  justly,  quite  proud  of  his  son — "  keep  your  plows 


96  PLAIN   AND  PLEASANT  TALK 

agoing  if  you  want  to  fetch  corn.  I  never  let  the  ground 
settle  on  the  top ;  if  it  is  beaten  down  by  rain,  or  begins  t«> 
look  a  kind  of  rusty  on  the  surface,  I  pitch  into  it,  and  keep 
it  as  mealy  as  flour.  The  fact  is  our  farmers  raise  more  corn 
than  they  can  tend,  they  can't  go  over  the  corn  more  than 
once  or  twice,  and  that'll  never  do,  and  I  guess  I'll  show 

old  Billy  R that  it's  so." 

Some  ambitious  farmers  are  pleased  to  "  lay  by"  the  corn 
very  early ;  but  it  is  not  wise ;  for  the  grass  is  always  more 
forward  to  grow  about  this  season  than  any  other ;  and  the 
ground  will  become  very  foul  where  corn  is  too  early  laid 
by,  and,  what  is  more  to  the  purpose,  a  great  deal  of  the 
nourishment  of  a  crop  is  derived  from  the  air  and  dew  con- 
veyed to  the  roots.  This  can  be  done  only  when  the  surface 
is  kept  thoroughly  open. 


PLOW    TILL  IT    IS    DRY,  AND    PLOW    TILL   IT   IS    WET. 

SPEAKING  of  com,  a  very  intelligent  gentleman  remarked : 

"  Well,  by  a  five  minutes'  talk,  I  made  Mr. produce 

the  best  crop  he  ever  had  on  a  certain  field."  He  was  look- 
ing over  the  fence  where  his  corn  was,  at  a  flat  field,  upon 
furrows  full  of  water ;  as  I  came  by  he  said :  "  Well,  I  shall 
never  get  a  crop  off  this  piece  of  land ;  it's  going  just  as  it 
always  does  when  I  plant  here."  I  told  him  of  an  old  man 
in  Indiana,  who  was  a  good  farmer,  to  whom  I  once  said 
when  at  his  house  one  morning  : 

"  Deafenbaugh,  how  is  it  that  you  always  have  good  corn 
when  no  one  else  gets  a  half  crop  ?" 

"  TPAy,"  said  he,  "when  it  is  wet  I  plow  it  till  it  is  r/ry, 
and  when  it  is  dry  I  plow  it  till  it  is  wet." 

The  man  to  whom  I  told  this  anecdote,  says  our  inform- 
ant, tried  the  practice,  and  gained  a  fine  crop. 


ABOUT  FRUITS,    FLOWERS   AND   FARMING.  97 

Now  the  principle  is  good.    Our  Dutch  friend  would  not, 
we  suppose,  plow  a  stiff  clay  in  a  wet  condition,  unless,  pos- 
sibly, to  strike  a  channel  through  the  middle  between  rows. 
But  the  gist  of  the  story  lies  in  this — constant  cultiv. 
Stir,  stir,  STIR  the  ground. 


STIRRING  THE  SOIL. 

NEXT  to  deep  plowing  we  should  urge  the  advantage  of 
continually  stirring  the  surface  of  the  soil. 

IT  PRODUCES  CLEANLINESS. — Weeds  in  a  growing  crop 
are  witnesses  which  no  good  farmer  can  afford  to  have  testi- 
fying against  him.  When  seed  is  sown  broad-cast,  weeding 
cannot  be  performed.  In  Europe,  where  labor  is  cheap  and 
children  plenty,  acres  of  wheat  and  such-like  crops  are 
weeded  by  hand.  Our  only  chance  is  to  clear  out  every 
field,  to  be  sown  broad-cast,  by  a  thorough  previous  culture. 
In  all  crops  which  are  drilled,  or  planted  in  rows,  the  hoe,  or 
plow,  or  cultivator,  should  be  kept  in  lively  use  through 
the  season.  This  practice  should  begin  early,  that  weeds 
and  grass  may  not  get  a  start,  for  often,  if  they  do,  it  is 
nearly  impossible  to  keep  them  down,  especially  if  the 
season  is  a  wet  one. 

But  there  are  yet  some  important  reasons  for  constantly 
stirring  the  soil  among  growing  crops.  No  matter  how 
thoroughly  the  earth  was  pulverized  when  the  seed  was 
put  in,  one  or  two  rains  will,  except  in  very  sandy  loam, 
beat  it  down  compactly.  This  crust  is  injurious  in  prevent- 
ing the  ingress  of  moisture.  But  that  which  is  the  most 
material  of  all  is,  that  it  excludes  the  air.  It  is  well  known 
that  the  air  affords  much  nourishment  to  vegetation ;  but, 
perhaps,  it  is  not  as  well  known,  that  it  supplies  it  by  the 
root  as  well  as  by  the  leaf.  If  any  one  wishes  to  try  the 

5 


98  PLAE*  AND  PLEASANT  TALK 

experiment,  and  we  have  done  it  time  and  again,  let  two 
patches  in  a  Bunion  K>  trr:\ti-d  in  all  respects  alike,  except 
in  this — let  one  be  hoed  or  raked  every  two  or  three  days 
and  the  other  not  at  all,  or  but  once  in  the  season. 

The  result  will  satisfy  any  man  better  than  a  paper  argu- 
ment. Indeed,  we  have  found  it  impossible  (in  a  garden) 
to  perfect  some  vegetables  without  constantly  stirring  the 
soil. 

While  these  advantages  are  gained,  it  is  not  to  be  for- 
gotten that,  in  dry  seasons^  a  thorough  pulverization  of  the 
surface,  will  prevent  the  evaporation  of  the  moisture  in  the 
earth  and  prevent  deleterious  effects  of  the  drought. 


SUBSOIL  PLOWING. 

ONE  of  the  great  improvements  of  the  age  is  the  adoption 
in  husbandry  of  the  subsoil  plow;  or,  as  it  is  called  in  Eng- 
land, Deanstonizing  system,  from  Mr.  Smith,  of  Dean- 
stone,  who  first  brought  the  implement  into  general  notice. 
They  are  designed  to  follow  in  the  furrow  of  a  coinmon 
plow,  and  pulverize  without  bringing  up  the  soil  for  eight  or 
ten  inches  deeper.  In  ordinary  soils  two  yoke  of  oxen  will 
work  it  with  ease,  plowing  from  an  acre  to  an  acre  and  a 
quarter  a  day. 

The  use  of  this  plow  will  renovate  old  bottom-lands,  the 
surface  of  which  has  been  exhausted  by  shallow  plowing 
and  continual  cropping.  It  brings  up  from  below  fresh 
material,  which  the  atmosphere  speedily  prepares  for  crops. 

Old  fields,  a  long  time  in  grass,  are  very  much  benefited. 

7  Constant  plowing  at  about  the  same  depth  will  often 

form  a  hard  under-floor  by  the  action  of  the  plow,  through 

which  neither  roots  nor  rain  can  well  penetrate  ;  subsoil \\\\$ 

will  relieve  a  field  thus  conditioned. 

Soils  lying  upon  clay  or  hard  compact  gravel  are  opened 


ABOUT  FBTTITS,   FLOWERS   AND*FABMING.  99 

and  remarkably  improved  by  the  process.  The  wet,  level, 
beech-lands  would  be  greatly  benefited  by  deep  plowing 
in  the  fall  of  the  year,  subjecting  the  earth,  to  a  consider- 
able depth,  to  the  action  of  the  frosts,  rains,  etc.,  and  giving 
a  downward  drain  for  superfluous  moisture. 

Although  we  have  incidentally  alluded  to  the  benefits  of 
subsoiling,  they  deserve  a  separate  and  individual  enume- 
ration. 

1.  In  very  deep  molds  or  loams  it  brings  up  a  supply  of 
soil  which  has  not  been  exhausted  by  the  roots. 

2.  In  soils  whose  fertility  is  dependent  upon  the  constant 
decomposition   of  mineral   substances,  subsoil   plowing  is 
advantageous  by  bringing  up  the  disintegrated  particles 
of  rock,  and  exposing  them  to  a  more  rapid  change  by  con- 
tact with  atmospheric  agents. 

3.  Subsoiling  guards  both  against  too  much  and  too  little 
moisture  in  the  soil.     If  there  is  more  water  than  the  soil 
can  absorb,  it  sinks  through  the  pulverized  under-soil.     If 
summer  droughts  exhaust  the  moisture  of  the  surface  they 
cannot  reach  the  subsoil,  which  affords  abundant  pasture  to 
the  roots. 


FIRE-BLIGHT    AND    WINTER    KILLING. 

THESE  are  two  entirely  different  processes.  The  Fire 
Slight  (of  the  middle  and  western  States),  is  a  disease  of 
the  circulatory  system,  induced  by  a  freezing  of  the  sap 
while  the  tree  is  in  a  growing  and  excitable  state.  It 
always  must  occur  before  the  leaves  are  shed  in  the  autumn- 
Winter-killing  is  of  two  kinds — resulting  from  severe  cold, 
and  from  untinu'ly  heat.  The  loss  of  tender  shrubs,  roses, 
etc.,  at  least,  before  they  are  fully  established,  and  of  half- 
hardy  fruit-trees,  is  occasioned  by  the  whiter  sun  shining 
warmly  upon  them  while  frozen,  and  suddenly  thawing 


100  PLAINT  AND  PXEASANT  TALK 

them.  The  point  of  death  is  usually  near  the  surface  of  the 
ground,  where  the  under-ground  bark  and  upper  bark 
come  together.  Whole  orchards  are  destroyed  in  this 
way  ;  and,  if  examined,  the  bark  may  be  found  sprung  off 
from  the  wood.  This  may  occur  at  any  time  during  the 
winter. 

We  are  in  doubt  whether  the  winter-stored  sap  exists  in 
a  state  to  be  affected  by  the  expansion  of  the  freezing  fluids 
of  the  tree.  If  the  expansion  of  congelation  did  produce 
the  effect,  it  should  have  been  more  general,  for  there  are 
fluids  hi  every  part  of  the  trunk — all  congeal  or  expand — 
and  the  bursting  of  the  trunk  in  one  place  would  not 
relieve  the  contiguous  portions.  We  should  expect,  if  this 
were  the  cause,  that  the  tree  would  explode,  rather  than 
split.  Capt.  Bach,  when  wintering  near  Great  Slave  Lake, 
about  63°  north  latitude,  experienced  a  cold  of  70°  below 
zero.  Nor  could  any  fire  raise  it  in  the  house  more  than 
12°  above  zero.  Mathematical  instrument  cases,  and  boxes 
of  seasoned  fir,  split  in  pieces  by  the  cold.  Could  it  have 
been  the  sap  in  seasoned  fir  wood  which  split  them  by  its 
expansion  in  congealing  ? 

We  quote  a  paragraph  from  Loudon — "  The  history  of 
frosts  furnishes  very  extraordinary  facts.  The  trees  are 
often  scorched  and  burnt  up,  as  with  the  most  excessive 
heat,  in  consequence  of  the  separation  of  the  water  from 
the  air,  which  is  therefore  very  drying.  In  the  great  frost 
in  1683,  the  trunks  of  oak,  ash,  walnut,  and  other  trees, 
were  miserably  split  and  cleft,  so  that  they  might  be  seen 
through,  and  the  cracks  often  attended  with  dreadful  noises 
like  the  explosion  of  fire-arms." 

We  don't  exactly  know  whether  to  take  the  first  part  as 
London's  explanation  of  the  facts  in  the  second. 

There  can  be  no  doubt  that  the  nature  of  the  summer's 
growth,  very  much  determines  the  power  of  a  tree  to  resist 
the  severity  of  winter.  When  there  is  but  an  imperfect 
ripening  in  a  cold  and  backward  season,  the  tissues  formed 


ABOUT  FRUITS,   FLO  WEBS  ANrf  FABMING.  101 

will  be  feeble,  and  the  juices  stored  in  them  thin.  Now 
the  power  to  resist  cold,  among  other  things,  is  in  propor- 
tion to  the  viscidity  of  the  fluids  in  a  plant. 

It  is  highly  desirable  that  the  chemical  researches  which 
have  revolutionized  the  art  of  cultivation,  should  be  pushed 
into  the  morbid  anatomy  of  vegetation.  A  close,  exact 
analysis  of  all  the  substances  in  an  injured  condition,  will 
Rave  a  vast  deal  of  bootless  ingenuity  and  fanciful  specu- 
lation. 


•     WINTER    TALK. 

Do  not  be  tempted  by  fine  weather  to  haul  out  manure 
— it  will  be  half  wasted  by  lying  in  small  heaps  over  the 
field  ;  to  spread  it  will  be  worse  yet ;  manure  should  lie  in 
a  stack,  as  little  exposed  to  the  weather  as  possible. 

Look  to  your  fences ;  see  that  they  are  in  complete  order 
and  leave  nothing  of  this  to  consume  your  time  in  the 
spring  when  you  will  need  all  your  force  for  other  work. 
It  is  well  to  haul  all  the  rails  you  will  need  for  the  year. 
The  timber  will  last  longer  cut  now.  Do  not  leave  rails  or 
sticks  of  timber  lying  where  you  cleave  them,  on  the  damp 
ground,  they  will  decay  more  in  six  months  there,  than  in 
eighteen  when  properly  cared  for.  Put  two  rails  down  and 
lay  the  rest  across  them  so  as  to  have  a  circulation  of  air 
beneath.  If  you  have  five  or  ten  acres  of  deadening  which 
you  mean  to  clear  up  and  put  to  corn,  you  may  as  well 
roll  the  logs  now.  Every  good  farmer  should  study 
tli rough  the  winter  to  make  his  spring  work  as  light  as 
possible.  Whatever  can  be  done  now  do  not  fail  to  do 
it ;  you  will  have  enough  to  do  when  spring  opens ;  and 
perhaps  the  season  may  be  one  which  will  crowd  your  work 
into  a  week  or  two.  If  you  have  young  fruit-trees,  or  a  lit- 


102  PLAIN  AND  PLEASANT  TALK 

tie  home-nursery,  look  out  for  rabbits.  They  usually  depre- 
date just  after  a  light  fall  of  snow. 

Overhaul  all  your  plows,  carts,  shovels,  hoes,  etc.,  and 
put  everything  in  complete  readiness. 

While  you  are  moving  about  and  repairing  holes  in  the 
fence,  putting  on  a  rail  here,  a  stake  yonder,  a  rider  in 
another  place,  you  may  inquire  of  yourself  whether  your 
character  is  not  in  some  need  of  repairs  ?  Perhaps  you  are 
very  careless  and  extravagant — the  fence  needs  rails  there ; 
perhaps  you  are  lazy — in  that  case  the  fence  corners  may 
be  said  to  be  full  of  brambles  and  weeds,  and  must  be 
cleared  out ;  perhaps  you  are  a  violent,  passionate  man — 
you  need  a  stake  and  rider  on  that  spot.  And  lastly,  per- 
haps you  are  not  temperate,  if  so,  your  fence  is  all  going 
down  and  will  soon  have  gaps  enough  to  let  in  all  the  hogs 
of  indolence,  vice,  and  crime :  and  they  make  a  large  drove 
and  fatten  fast.  Now  is  a  good  time  to  plan  how  to  get 
out  of  debt.  Don't  be  ashamed  to  save  in  little  things, 
nor  to  earn  small  gains :  "Many  a  mickle  makes  a  muckle." 
But  set  it  down,  to  begin  with,  that  no  saving  is  made  by 
cheating  yourself  out  of  a  good  newspaper.  No  man  reads 
a  good  paper  a  year,  without  saving  by  it.  Suppose  you 
put  in  your  wheat  a  little  better  for  something  you  see 
written  by  a  good  farmer  and  get  five  bushels  more  to  the 
acre.  One  acre  pays  for  a  year's  paper.  One  recipe,  a 
hint  which  betters  any  crop,  pays  for  the  paper  fourfold. 
Intelligent  boys  work  better,  plan  better,  earn  and  save 
better ;  and  reading  a  good  paper  makes  them  intelligent. 
Besides,  suppose  you  took  a  good  paper  a  year,  and  found 
nothing  new  during  all  that  time  (an  incredible  supposi- 
tion !),  yet  every  two  weeks  it  comes  to  jog  your  memory 
about  things  which  you  may  forget,  but  ought  not  to  forget. 
It  steps  in  and  asks  whether  that  little  store  bill  is  paid  ? 
Whether  that  loan  drawing  a  fatal  six,  seven  or  ten  per  cent 
(poison!  poison!  deadly  poison!)  is  being  melted  down? 
.whether  the  children  are  going  to  school?  whether  the 


ABOUT  FRUITS,   FLO  WEES   AHT>  FARMING.  103 

tools  are  all  right  ?  the  fences  snug  ?  whether  economy,  and 
industry,  and  sound  morals  (the  best  crop  one  can  put  in), 
are  flourishing  ?  It  will  look  at  your  orchard — peep  over 
into  your  garden,  pry  into  the  dairy — nay,  into  the  cup- 
board and  bureau,  and  even  into  your  pocket.  Now,  if  you 
are  a  man  willing  to  learn,  it  will  give  you  hints  enough 
in  a  year  to  pay  ten  times  over  for  your  paper. 


"SHUT    YOUR    MOUTH." 

WE  heard  a  lad,  in  anger,  use  this  expression  to  another. 
It  was  not  very  bad  advice,  though  given  somewhat  roughly. 

When  we  hear  some  of  our  mincing  misses  singing,  now 
away  up,  and  now  away  down,  tossing  their  heads  and  roll- 
ing their  eyes,  we  think,  Well,  miss,  if  you  knew  what  folks 
thought  of  you,  you'd  shut  your  mouth. 

We  have  seen  many  men  ruined  because  they  did  not  know 
how  to  shut  their  mouth  when  tempted  to  say  "  Yes,"  to  a 
bad  business. 

When  we  see  a  man  standing  before  the  bar  just  ready  to 
drink,  we  think,  Ah !  you  fine  fellow,  if  you  will  not  keep 
your  mouth  shut  before  that  bar,  you  will,  by  and  by,  find 
yourself  before  a  Bar  where  it  will  be  shut  tight  enough. 

When  we  hear  a  fine  lady  scolding  till  every  room  rings  ; 
or  tattling  from  house  to  house — or  scandal-mongering,  we 
think,  Ah,  you  lady,  with  all  your  schooling,  you  never 
learned  to  shut  your  mouth 


104  PLAIN  AND  PLEASANT  TALK 


SPRING    WORK    ON    THE    FARM. 

THOROUGHLY  overhaul  your  tools;  let  plows  be  sharp 
ened ;  repair  their  stocks  if  anywhere  started  or  weakened ; 
look  after  the  chains,  the  swingletrees,  the  yokes  for  youi 
oxen,  or  the  harness  for  your  horses.  Don't  have  any 
straps  to  replace,  or  harness  to  tie  up  with  tow  strings  after 
you  get  into  the  fields,  and  when  time  is  precious.  Now  is 

THE  TIME  TO    SAVE    TIME,    BY   GETTING    BEADY.        Old   TUSty 

buckles  will  give  way  the  moment  the  plow  strikes  a  root ; 
stitches  which  have  been  longing  for  some  time  to  fall  out 
and  part,  will  be  likely  to  do  it  when  you  have  the  least 
time  to  mend  them.  Then  we  shall  hear  talk ;  you'll  be 
cursing  the  old  horse  or  the  old  rickety  harness,  and  declar- 
ing that  your  "  luck  is  always  on  the  wrong  side ;"  and 
you  may  depend  upon  it,  that  it  always  will  be,  so  long  as 
you  are  not  more  careful.  Good  luck  is  a  wary  old  fish 
which  nibbles  at  everybody's  hook,  but  the  shrewd  and 
skillful  angler  only  catches  it. 

The  opening  of  spring  is  usually  debilitating  both  to  man 
and  beast.  Your  horses  cannot  stand  hard  usage  at  once ; 
some  of  them  will  need  physic — all  of  them  should  be  put 
to  work  carefully ;  increase  their  task  gradually ;  favor 
them,  and  you  will  get  abundantly  paid  for  it  before  their 
summer's  work  is  done. 

A  good  farmer  may  be  known  by  the  way  he  manages 
his  spring  work.  Consider  how  much  there  is  of  it. 
Cows  are  calving ;  mares  foaling ;  young  heifers  for  the 
first  time  to  be  broken  to  milking;  all  the  tools  to  be 
got  ready ;  the  ground  to  be  broken  up  and  seeded ; 
the  orchards  to  be  set ;  or  old  ones  to  be  attended  to ; 
a  garden  to  be  made ;  and  a  hundred  other  things  to  do. 
Now  here  is  a  chance  for  good  management,  and  a  yet  bet- 
ter chance  for  bad  management.  There  is  as  much  skill  in 
"  laying  out "  a  season's  work  for  the  farmer,  as  there  is  in 
"  laying  out "  a  frame  for  a  house  or  barn. 


ABOUT  FRUITS,   FLOWERS   AND  FARMING.  105 

Bethink  you  of  all  the  mistakes  you  made  last  season ; 
if  you  made  any  good  hits,  improve  upon  them  this  year. 
Every  fanner  should  resolve  to  do  all  things  as  well  as  he 
did  the  last  year,  and  some  things  a  great  deal  better. 

While  everything  is  merry,  birds  singing,  bees  at  work, 
cattle  frisky,  and  the  whole  animated  world  is  joyous,  do 
but  search  and  see  if,  among  ah1  beasts,  birds,  or  bugs,  you 
can  find  one  that  needs  whisky  to  do  its  spring  or  summer 
work  on  ? 

Look  again;  seeds  are  sprouting;  trees  budding;  flowers 
peeping  out  from  warm  nooks.  Everything  grows  in 
spring-tune.  Youth  is  spring-time,  habits  are  sprouting, 
dispositions  are  putting  out  their  leaves,  opinions  are  form- 
ing, prejudices  are  getting  root.  Now  take  at  least  as 
good  care  of  your  children  as  you  do  of  your  farm.  If  you 
don't  want  to  use  the  land  you  let  it  alone,  and  weeds  grow; 
but  when  you  wish  to  improve  a  piece,  you  turn  the  natural 
weeds  under,  and  sow  the  right  seed,  and  tend  the  crop. 
I  have  heard  good  kind  of  folks  object  to  much  "  bringing 
up*  of  their  boys.  They  guessed  the  lads  would  come  out 
about  right.  You  break  a  colt,  and  break  a  steer,  and 
break  a  heifer,  and  break  a  soil,  and  if  you  won't  break 
your  children,  they  will  be  very  likely  to  break  you — heart 
and  pocket. 

Fermenting  manures  should  not  be  hauled  or  spread 
until  you  are  ready  to  plow  them  under.  [If  you  spread 
manure  on  meadows  it  should  be  fine,  and  well  rotted,  and 
let  ashes  be  liberally  mixed  with  it.]  If  you  let  manure  lie 
a  week  or  ten  days  exposed  in  the  fields  to  the  air,  it  will 
waste  one  half  of  "  its  sweetness  on  the  desert  air."  Let 
the  plow  follow  the  cart  as  fast  as  possible,  and  the  gases 
generated  by  your  manure  will  then  be  taken  up  by  the  soilf 
and  held  in  store  for  your  gram. 

DEEP  PLOWING. — There  may  be  some  rare  cases  where, 
for  special  reasons,  shallow  plowing  is  advisable.  But  the 
standing  rule  upon  the  farm  should  be  deep  plowing.  A 
5* 


106  PLAIN  AND  PLEASANT  TALK 

good  farmer  remarked  the  other  day  to  us,  "  One  of  my 
neighbors  who  is  always  talking  of  deep  plowing  was  at  it 
last  summer,  and  I  followed  in  the  furrow,  and  his  depth 
did  n«>t  average  more  than  four  inches;  he  did  not  measuu- 
on  the  land  side  but  on  the  mold-board  side."  The  rea- 
sons are  very  strong  for  deep  plowing. 

1 .  When  crop  after  crop  is  taken  off  the  first  four  or  five 
inches  of  top  earth,  it  tends  speedily  to  rob  it  of  all  ma- 
terials required  by  grass  or  grain.     Every  blade  taken  from 
the  soil,  takes  off  some  portion  of  that  soil  with  it. 

2.  Deep    plowing   brings   up   from 'beneath   a  greater 
amount  of  earth,  which,  when  subjected  to  the  frosts,  the 
atmosphere,  and  the  action  of  the  plow,  becomes  fit  for 
vegetation. 

3.  Summer  droughts  seldom  injure  deeply-plowed  soils ; 
certainly  not  to  that  degree  that  they  do  shallow  soils. 
The  roots  penetrate  the  mellow  mould  to  a  greater  depth, 
and  draw  thence  moisture  when  the  top  is  as  dry  as  ashes. 
Will  not  some  one  who  is  curious  in  such  matters  try  two 
acres  side  by  side  plowed  shallow  and  deep,  respectively, 
and  give  us  the  history  of  their  crop? 

QUANTITY  OP  SEED. — It  has  been  often  said  that  Ameri- 
can husbandry  was  unfavorably  peculiar  in  stinginess  of 
seed-sowing.  It  is  certain  that  very  much  greater  quan- 
tities are  employed  in  Great  Britain  and  on  the  Continent 
than  with  us,  and  that  much  greater  crops  are  obtained  per 
acre.  In  part  the  crop  is  owing  to  a  superior  cultivation  ; 
but  those  who  have  carefully  studied  the  subject  affirm  that, 
in  part,  it  is  attributable  to  the  use  of  much  greater  quan- 
tities of  seed.  We  give  a  table  showing  the  average  quan- 
tity of  seed  per  acre  for  different  grains,  in  England,  Ger- 
many, and  the  United  States.  The  table  was  formed  in 
that  manufactory  of  so  many  valuable  articles,  the  Albany 
Cultivator.  It  must  be  remembered  that  the  average  crop 
is  not  the  average  of  the  best  farming  States,  but  of  the 
whole  United  States. 


ABOUT   FEUITS,    FLOWERS   AND  -FARMING. 


107 


OKKMANY. 

ENGLAND. 

1  i:i>  STATK8. 

Seed  per  acre—  Product. 

Seed  per  acre—  Product. 

Seed  per  acre  —  Product. 

Wheat, 

•Ji  bushels. 

25  bushels. 

•-'i  to  8J  »'". 

23  bushels. 

1  to  H  bush  18  bushels. 

Rye, 

2         " 

25        " 

2  to  2i      *• 

25 

ItolJ    ll      15        " 

BarUy, 

2k        " 

85        « 

2^  to  4      " 

86 

Hto2    "     25        «• 

Oats, 

ii  to  4  " 

40        " 

4  to  7        " 

82        " 

2  to  8      "     85        " 

Millet, 

7  quarts. 

85        " 

- 

Peas, 

2j    bushels. 

26        " 

8  to  8*      " 

80  to  40  bu. 

2to2i    "     25        •• 

;  Turnips, 
j  Buckwheat, 
1  Clover, 

20  quarts. 

1  bushel. 
14  pounds. 

86        " 
80  to  85  tons 
27  bushels. 

1  to  2  pints. 
1  to  1  j  bush 

14  to  18  II  >.-. 

80  to  85  tons 
26  bushels. 

20  to  80  qts.  80        " 
Ito21bs.       20  tons. 
16  to  20  qts  15  to  80  bu. 
5  to  10  Ibs. 

Flax, 

2  to  8  bush. 

10  bu.  seed. 

2  to  8  bush. 

10  bu.  seed. 

1  to  Hbush  8  to  12  bush 

Hemp, 

2*to8    " 

650  pounds. 

8 

550  pounds. 

Hto2i  "     500  pounds. 

Potatoes, 

5 

800  bushels. 

8  to  12     •• 

250  bushels. 

8  to  20   "     1  175  bushels 

SPRING    WORK    IN    THE    GARDEN. 

WHEN  spring  comes,  everybody  begins  to  think  of  thf 
garden.  A  little  of  the  experience  of  one  who  has  learned 
some  by  making  many  mistakes  will  do  you  no  harm. 

Too  MUCH  WORK  LAID  our. — When  the  winter  lets  us 
out,  and  we  are  exhilarated  with  fresh  air,  singing  birds, 
bland  weather,  and  newly-springing  vegetation,  our  ambi- 
tion is  apt  to .  lay  out  too  much  work.  We  began  with  an 
acre,  in  garden ;  we  could  not  afford  to  hire  help  except  for 
a  few  days ;  and  we  were  ambitious  to  do  things  as  they 
ought  to  be  done.  By  reference  to  a  Garden  Journal 
(every  man  should  keep  one),  we  find  that  we  planted  in 
1840,  sixteen  kinds  of  peas;  seventeen  kinds  of  beans;  seven 
kinds  of  corn  ;  six  kinds  of  squash  ;  eight  kinds  of  cabbage ; 
seven  kinds  of  lettuce  ;  eight  sorts  of  cucumber,  and  seven 
of  turnips — seventy-six  varieties  of  only  eight  vegetables  ! 
Besides,  we  had  fruit-trees  to  transplant  in  spring — flowers 
to  nurture,  and  all  the  etceteras  of  a  large  garden.  Al- 
though we  worked  faithfully,  early  and  late,  through  the 
whole  season,  tin-  wt-ods  beat  us  fairly;  and  every  day  or 
two  some  lazy  loon,  who  had  not  turned  two  spadefuls  of 
earth  during  the  season,  would  lounge  along  and  look  over, 
nnd  seeing  the  condition  of  things,  would  very  quietly  say 


108  TLAIN   AND  PLEASANT  TALK 

"  Why,  I  heard  so  much  about  your  garden — whew !  what 
regiments  of  weeds  you  keep.  I  say,  neighbor,  do  you  boil 
that  parsley  for  greens  ?"  It  nettled  us,  and  we  sweat  at  the 
hoe  and  spade  all  the  harder,  but  in  vain  ;  for  we  had  laid 
out  more  than  could  be  well  done.  Nobody  asked  how 
much  we  had  done — they  looked  only  at  what  we  had  not 
done.  To  be  sure  so  many  sorts  were  planted  only  to  test 
their  qualities ;  but  the  laying  out  of  so  large  a  work  in 
spring  is  not  wise.  A  HALF  well  done  is  better  than  a  WHOLE 
half  done.  Remember  there  is  a  July  as  well  as  an  April ; 
and  lay  out  in  April  as  you  can  hold  out  in  July  and  Au- 
gust. We  have  profited  by  our  own  mistakes  and  have  no 
objections  that  others  should  do  it. 

VEGETABLE  GARDEN. — Before  you  meddle  with  the  garden, 
do  two  things:  first  inspect  your  seeds,  assort  them,  reject- 
ing the  shrunk,  the  mildewed,  the  sprouted,  and,  generally, 
the  discolored.  Buy  early,  such  as  you  need  to  purchase. 
Do  not  wait  till  the  minute  of  planting  before  you  get  your 
seeds.  Second,  make  up  your  mind  beforehand  just  what 
you  mean  to  do  in  your  garden  for  the  season. 

Preparation. — Haul  your  manure  and  stack  it  in  a 
corner ;  do  not  spread  it  till  the  day  that  you  are  ready  to 
turn  it  under ;  cut  your  pea-brush  and  put  it  under  shelter ; 
inspect  your  bean-poles  and  procure  such  as  are  necessary  to 
replace  the  rotten  or  broken  ones ;  inspect  every  panel 
of  the  garden  fence ;  one  rail  lost,  may  ruin,  in  a  night,  two 
months'  labor,  and  more  temper  and  grace  than  you  can 
afford  to  spare  in  a  whole  year.  Clean  up  all  the  stubble, 
haulm,  straw,  leaves,  refuse  brush,  sticks  and  rubbish  of 
every  sort,  and  cast  it  out,  or  burn  it  and  distribute  the 
ashes.  If  you  intend  to  do  your  work  in  the  best  manner, 
see  that  you  have  the  sorts  of  manure  that  you  may  need 
through  the  season :  ashes,  fine  old  barn-yard  manure, 
green  long  manure,  leaf-mold  from  the  wood,  top-soil 
from  pastures,  etc.,  etc.  Every  florist  understands  the  use 
of  these. 


ABOUT  FEUITS,   FLOWERS   AND  FARMING.  109 

Coarse  manure  may  be  put  upon  your  pie-plant  bed,  as 
a  strong  and  succulent  leaf-stalk  is  desirable.  Let  it  be 
thoroughly  forked,  gently  near  the  stools  and  deeply 
between  the  rows. 

With  an  iron-toothed  rake  go  over  your  old  strawberry 
beds  that  are  matted  together,  and  rake  them  severely. 
Strawberries  that  have  been  kept  in  hills  and  cleanly  tended 
should  be  manured  between  the  rows  and  gently  spaded  or 
forked. 

Early  Sowings. — Tomatoes,  egg-plant,  early  cucumbers, 
cabbage,  cauliflowers,  broccoli,  lettuce,  melons,  celery  for 
an  early  crop,  should  have  been,  before  this,  well  advanced 
in  a  hot-bed.  If  not,  no  time  is  to  be  lost ;  and  if  a  first 
sowing  is  well  along,  a  second  sowing  should  be  made. 

You  cannot  get  too  early  into  the  ground  after  the  frost 
is  out  and  the  wet  a  little  dried,  onions  for  seed  or  a  crop, 
lettuce,  radishes,  peas,  spinage,  parsnip,  early  cabbage, 
and  small  salads. 

ASPARAGUS. — The  beds  should  be  attended  to;  remove 
all  weeds  and  old  stalks  ;  give  a  liberal  quantity  of  salt  to 
the  bed — if  you  have  old  brine,  or  can  get  fish  brine  at  the 
stores,  that  is  better  than  dry  salt.  Asparagus  is  a  marine 
plant,  growing  upon  sandy  beaches  along  the  sea  coast,  and 
is  therefore  benefited  by  salt,  to  which,  in  its  habitat,  it  was 
accustomed.  Put  about  three  or  four  inches  of  old,  thor- 
oughly rotted  manure  upon  the  bed ;  fork  it  in  gently,  so  as 
not  to  wound  the  crowns  of  the  plant.  Directions  for  form- 
ing beds  belong  to  a  later  period  in  the  season. 

ONIONS. — Should  be  sown  or  set  early. 

If  you  prefer  seed,  sow,  across  beds  four  feet  wide,  in 
drills  eight  inches  apart ;  young  gardeners  are  apt  to  be- 
^nulge  room — give  it  freely  to  everything,  and  it  will  repay 
you ;  when  they  come  up,  thin  out  to  one  for  every  inch  ; 
as  you  wish  young  and  tender  onions  for  your  table,  draw 
these,  leaving,  at  least,  one  every  five  inches  in  the  row.  If 
your  soil  is  deep  and  very  rich,  onions  can  be  grown  in  one 


110  PLAIN   AND  PLEASANT  TALK 

season  from  the  seed  as  well  as  from  the  set — we  try  it 
almost  every  year  and  never  fail,  although  told  a  hundred 
times :  "  You  could  do  that  in  the  old  States,  but  it  won't 
do  out  here."  It  had  to  do,  and  did  do,  and  always  will  do, 
whore  there  is  no  lazy  men  about ;  but  nothing  ever  does 
wi-11  in  a  slack  and  lazy  man's  garden  ;  plants  have  an  invet- 
erate prejudice  against  such,  and  won't  grow;  but  he  is  a 
darling  favorite  among  weeds. 

The  white  or  silver  skin,  and  the  yellow  Portugal  have 
been  favorite  kinds  with  us  to  raise  from  seed.  They  are 
tender,  mild  flavored,  but  do  not  keep  as  well  as  the  Red. 
Strong  onions  always  keep  better  than  mild  ones. 

If  you  prefer  top-onion  sets,  or  sets  of  any  other  kind, 
plant  them  out  at  the  same  distances,  viz.  eight  inches  be- 
tween the  row  and  five  or  six  between  the  sets.  Inexpe- 
rienced gardeners  are  afraid  that  little  sets  no  bigger  than 
a  pea,  will  not  do  well.  It  is  a  mistake — they  will  make 
large  onions  ;  put  them  all  in,  if  they  are  sound.  Plant  the 
sets  so  that  the  top  shall  just  appear  above  the  surface. 

If  you  plant  out  old  onions  for  seed,  let  them  be  at  least 
a  foot  apart  and  stake  them  when  they  begin  to  blossom. 
If  you  plant  the  top-onion  for  sets  you  need  not  stake  them, 
for  they  cannot  shed  out  their  seed  if  they  fall  over.  It  is 
not  generally  known  that  the  same  onions  may  be  kept  for 
seed  for  many  years. 

TRANSPLANTING. — All  fruit-trees,  most  kinds  of  shade 
trees,  shrubs,  hardy  roses,  honeysuckles,  pinks,  lilacs,  peonies, 
etc.,  may  be  raised,  divided,  and  transplanted  in  Apiil  un- 
less your  soil  is  very  wet.  All  hardy  plants  may  be  safely 
transplanted  just  as  soon  as  the  ground  is  dry  enough  to 
crumble  freely — and  not  till  then.  In  planting  out  shrubs, 
remember  that  they  will  grow ;  if  you  put  them  near  to- 
gether, for  the  sake  of  present  effect,  in  a  year  or  two  tlu-y 
will  be  crowded.  We  set  at  ample  distances  and  fill  up  the 
spaces  with  lilies,  peonies,  phlox,  gladiolus,  and  herbaceous 
plants  which  are  easily  removed. 


A.BOU1    FRUITS,    FLOWERS   AND   FARMING.  Ill 

FLOWER  GARDEN. — Remove  the  covering  from  your  bulb- 
beds  ;  as  soon  as  the  earth  is  dry  enough  to  crumble,  with  a 
pmall  hoe  carefully  mellow  the  earth  between  the  rows  of 
bulbs,  and  work  it  loose  with  your  hands,  in  the  row  itself. 
Leave  the  surface  convex,  that  superfluous  rain  may  flow  off. 
Transplant  roses  that  are  to  be  moved.  Divide  the  roots 
of  such  lilies,  peonies,  irises,  etc.,  as  are  propagated  by  divi- 
sion, and  replant. 

As  fast  as  the  soil  allows,  spade  up  your  borders,  and 
flower  compartments,  giving  first  a  good  coating  of  very 
fine,  old,  pulverized  manure. 

If  you  have  hot-beds  you  may  bring  forward  most  of  your 
annuals,  so  as  to  turn  them  out  into  the  open  beds  as  soon 
as  frosts  cease. 

But  defer  sowing  in  the  open  air  until  the  first  of  April ; 
and  then,  sparingly ;  sow  again  the  middle  of  April,  and  on 
the  first  of  May.  Only  thus,  will  you  be  sure  of  a  supply. 
If  you  gain  more  than  you  need  by  three  sowings,  should 
all  succeed,  you  have  friends  and  neighbors  enough,  if  you 
are  a  reasonably  decent  man,  who  will  be  glad  to  receive 
the  surplus. 

MANURE. — Corn  and  potatoes  will  bear  green  and  unfer- 
nicnted  manure.  But  all  ordinary  garden  vegetables  require 
thoroughly  rotted  manure.  If  the  soil  is  sandy,  leached 
ashes  may  be  applied  with  great  profit  at  the  rate  of  seventy 
or  eighty  bushels  the  acre.  The  soil  is  made  more  reten- 
tive of  moisture,  and  valuable  ingredients  are  secured  to  it. 
Salt  may  be  used  with  great  advantage  on  all  garden  soils, 
but  especially  upon  light  and  sandy  ones.  Thus  treated, 
soils  will  resist  summer  droughts  and  be  moist  when  other- 
wise they  would  suffer.  Salt  has  also  a  good  effect  in 
destroying  vermin,  and  it  adds  very  valuable  chemical  in- 
gredients to  the  soil.  Soapsuds  should  be  carefully  - 
and  poured  about  currants,  gooseberries  and  fruit-trees. 
Charcoal,  pulverized,  is  excellent,  as  it  absorbs  ammonia 
from  the  atmosphere,  or  from  any  body  containing  it,  and 


112  PLAIN  AND   PLEASANT  TALK 

yields  it  to  the  plants.  Let  a  barrel  be  set  near  the  house 
filled  with  powdered  charcoal.  Empty  into  it  all  the  cham- 
ber-ley. The  ammonia  will  be  taken  up  by  the  charcoal,  and 
the  barrel  will  be  without  any  offensive  smell.  But  as  soon 
as  the  charcoal  is  saturated,  it  will  begin  to  give  out  the 
peculiar  odor  of  urine.  Let  the  charcoal  then  be  mixed 
with  about  five  times  its  bulk  of  fresh  earth  and  well  worked 
together,  and  it  wjll  afford  a  very  powerful  manure  for  vege- 
tables and  flowers.  In  Europe,  where  manure  is  precious, 
it  is  estimated  that  the  excrementitious  matter,  slops,  suds, 
scraps,  etc.,  of  a  family,  will  supply  one  acre,  for  each  mem- 
ber, with  manure.*  There  are  few  families  whose  offal 
would  not  afford  abundant  material  for  enriching  the  gar- 
den, and  with  substances  peculiarly  fitted  for  flowers,  fruits, 
and  esculent  roots. 


FALL    WORK    IN    THE    GARDEN. 

PLANTING  seeds  may  be  performed  for  very  early  spring 
use.  Lettuce,  spinage,  and  radishes,  may  be  sown  in  a  shel- 
tered spot,  and  they  will  come  forward  ten  days  or  a  fortnight 
earlier  than  those  which  shall  have  been  sown  in  spring. 

Clearing  up  the  garden  should  be  thoroughly  performed. 
Let  pea-brush  be  removed,  bean  poles  and  flower  stakes  be 
collected  and  put  under  shelter.  Collect  all  refuse  vines, 
haulm,  stems  and  stalks  and  wheel  them  to  a  corner  to  rot, 
or  to  be  ready  for  use  in  covering  flower-beds.  Let  the 
alleys  be  hoed  out  for  the  last  time,  and  it  will  be  as  good 
as  one  hoeing  in  the  spring,  when  they  will  probably  be  too 
wet  to  hoe.  Gravel  may  now  be  laid  in  the  walks  ;  if  ashes 
are  to  be  spread,  it  may  be  done  in  autumn,  and  save  time  in 
the  spring. 

*  See  note,  p.  98,  Colman's  Tour,  2d  part,  where  is  given  an  estimate 
by  a  distinguished  agricultural  chemist,  Mr.  Hay  wood. 


ABOUT  FBUITS,   FLOWERS   ASTD  FABMING.  113 

All  tender  plants  are  to  be  removed  or  secured  by  covering. 

The  best  covering  to  secure  the  earth  from  frost,  that  we- 
know  of,  is  a  layer  of  leaves,  say  three  inches  thick  when 
well  packed  down,  and  upon  them  two  or  three  inches  of 
chip  dirt,  with  the  coarsest  part  on  top.  We  have  had  the 
soil  unfrozen  in  severe  winters  when  so  covered.  In  this 
manner,  tuberoses,  gladiolus,  dahlias,  tiger  flowers,  etc.,  may 
be  kept  out  through  the  winter.  The  gladiolus  thus  treated 
makes  splendid  tufts  of  blossoms.  It  may  be  prudent  to 
try  only  a  few  at  first,  and  adventure  more  as  experience 
gives  confidence. 

CELEEY  which  is  to  be  left  in  the  trenches  should  first  be 
well  covered  with  straw,  and  then  boards  should  be  placed 
upon  the  top  in  such  a  manner  as  to  shed  the  rain.  Great 
quantities  of  wet  rot  it  when  it  is  not  growing ;  and  freez- 
ing and  thawing  in  the  light  destroys  it. 

If  portions  of  the  garden  have  been  infested  with  cut- 
worms, etc.,  let  it  be  spaded  and  thrown  up  loosely  just  be- 
fore freezing  weather.  A  clay  soil  will  be  ameliorated  by 
frosts,  if  treated  in  the  same  way.  A  light,  loose  soil,  should 
not  be  worked  in  the  fall. 


GUARDING    CHERRY-TREES    FROM    COLD. 

THIS  tree  is  peculiarly  liable  while  young,  but  more  espe- 
cially when  coming  into  bearing,  to  be  roughly  handled  by 
our  winters.  The  bark  at  the  surface  of  the  ground  splits,  and 
often  the  trunk,  enfeebling  the  tree  and  sometimes  destroy- 
ing it.  The  evil  does  not  result  from  the  cold,  but  from  the 
action  of  bright  suns  upon  the  frozen  trunk.  Let  those  hav- 
ing valuable  young  trees,  prepare  them  for  winter  by  giv- 
ing a  cheap  covering  to  the  trunks,  so  that  the  sun  shall  not 
strike  them.  This  may  be  done  by  tying  about  them  bass 
matting,  long  straw,  corn-stalks,  or  any  similar  protection. 


114  PLAIN  AND  PLEASANT  TALK 

SHADE-TREES. 

WE  believe  that  no  man  ever  walked  under  the  magnifi- 
cent elms  upon  the  Boston  Common,  or  beneath  the  Lin- 
dens in  Philadelphia,  or  through  Elm  street  in  New  Haven, 
without  conviction  of  the  beauty  and  utility  of  shade- 
trees.  Trees  not  only  are  objects  of  beauty — the  architecture 
of  Nature — but  they  promote  both  health  and  comfort.  Our 
ardent  summers,  from  June  to  October,  make  open,  un- 
shaded streets,  almost  impassable,  and  reflect  heat  upon  our 
dwellings  from  the  side-walks  and  beaten  road. 

In  this  country  the  growth  of  trees  is  so  rapid,  and  the 
supply  from  our  own  forests  so  abundant  and  convenient 
that  every  village  and  city,  and  every  well-conducted  farm 
should  be  lined  with  shade-trees.  We  will  offer  a  few  sug- 
gestions upon  the  kinds  to  be  selected  and  the  manner  of 
setting. 

THE  LOCUST  (Rolinia  pseudacacia). — This  tree  is  very 
popular,  and  is  almost  the  only  one  at  the  West  set  for 
shade-trees.  It  has  a  beautiful  form,  grows  very  rapidly, 
bears  a  profusion  of  beautiful  and  very  fragrant  blossoms 
(pendulous  racemes  of  pea-shaped  flowers),  its  foliage  is  sin- 
gularly pleasing — the  young  leaves  being  of  a  light  pea-' 
green,  and  growing  darker  with  age,  so  that  in  the  same 
tree  three  or  four  distinct  shades  of  green  may  be  seen ;  it 
grows  freely  in  all  soils,  and  is  not  infested  by  any  worms ; 
its  timber  is  almost  as  durable  as  cedar,  and  in  the  West,  is 
not  subject  to  the  attacks  of  the  borer,  as  it  is  in  the  East. 

On  the  other  hand,  the  tree  becomes  unsymmetrical  with 
age,  it  is  brittle,  breaking  easily  at  slight  wounds,  even 
when  they  have  healed  over.  It  is  not  a  long-lived  tree, 
and  requires  careful  protection  from  cattle. 

We  would  advise  a  more  sparing  use  of  it.  Let  every 
other  tree  be  a  Locust,  and  the  alternate  maple  or  elm,  oak, 
tulip,  etc.  By  this  method  the  Locust  will  afford  immediate 
shade,  and  when  they  become  unsightly  the  intervening 


ABOUT  FRUITS,   FLOWERS   AND  FARMING.  115 

trees  will  have  grown  to  a  goodly  size.  The  Locust  should 
be  transplanted  just  as  the  buds  are  ready  to  burst ;  they 
should  be  protected  by  frames  as  soon  as  set.  Good  cases 
may  be  made  at  a  trifling  expense,  by  taking  strips  of  inch 
and  a  half  stuff,  three  inches  wide,  and  nine  or  ten  feet  long, 
sharpen  the  lower  end,  and  drive  it  into  the  ground  four  or 
five  inches,  and  in  a  box  formed  about  the  tree  let  cross- 
pieces  be  nailed  at  the  top.  Be  careful  that  the  tree  does 
not  rub  upon  the  case,  although  the  wound  will  heal  over,  yet 
in  the  first  high  wind,  it  will  be  apt  to  break  off  at  that 
point.  This  tree  is  rather  peculiar  in  that  respect. 

The  Locust  was  introduced  to  Europe  by  a  Frenchman 
named  Robin.  From  him  the  genus  (Hobinia)  took  its 
name.  There  are  but  four  species  belonging  to  it,  and  they 
are  all  indigenous  to  North  America,  viz. : 

JRobinia  pseudacacia  (common  Locust).  It.  viscosa, 
confined  to  the  southwestern  parts  of  the  Alleghany  Moun- 
tains, bearing  rose-colored  blossoms  and  being  even  more 
ornamental  than  the  former ;  it  is  equally  hardy,  and  if  it 
could  be  introduced  among  us  would  form  a  valuable  addi- 
tion. Locusts  nowhere  appear  to  a  better  -advantage  than 
when  planted  in  clumps  of  six  or  eight  on  a  lawn,  and  if  the 
'JR.  pseudacacia  and  JR.  viscosa  were  contiguous,  blending 
the  pure  white  and  the  rose-colored  blossoms,  the  world 
might  be  challenged  for  a  finer  effect. 

The  It.  hispida  (rose-acacia  of  our  gardens)  is  a  highly 
ornamental  shrub,  its  branches  are,  like  the  moss-rose,  cov- 
ered with  minute  spines,  which  give  it  a  fine  appearance. 
A  fourth  species  is  said  to  exist  in  the  basin  of  Red  River. 
The  favorable  opinion  here  expressed  of  the  Locust,  will 
remove  any  impression  of  prejudice  when  we  say,  that  they 
are  altogether  too  much  cultivated.  Our  forests  are  full  of 
magnificent  shade-trees  whose  claims  can  never,  all  things 
considered,  be  equalled  by  the  Locust. 

ELM  ( Ulmus  Americana) ,  commonly  called  White  Elm. 
Of  the  four  species  of  elms  indigenous  to  the  United 


116  PLAIN  AND  PLEASANT  TALK 

States,  but  two  are  particularly  worth  notice,  the  White 
Elm,  and  Slippery  Elm  (  U.  pulva).  But  the  former  of  these 
is  so  incomparably  the  superior,  that  it  should  be  selected 
wherever  it  can  be  had.  It  attains  a  height  of  one  humlm] 
feet,  is  very  long-lived,  grows  more  and  more  beautiful  with 
age,  its  long  branches  droop  over,  forming  graceful  pendu- 
lous extremities ;  and  no  one  who  has  seen  the  Boston  Mall, 
or  the  New  Haven  elms,  or  those  scattered  along  the  vil- 
lages of  Connecticut,  will  think  that  Michaux  exaggerated 
in  pronouncing  this  tree  to  be  the  most  magnificent  vegeta- 
ble production  of  the  Temperate  Zone.  It  is  unquestional  »1  y 
the  monarch  among  shade-trees,  as  superior  to  the  oak  for 
avenues  and  streets,  as  the  oak  is  to  it  for  parks  and  forests. 
The  great  main-street  of  every  village  should  be  lined  with 
White  Elms,  set  at  distances  of  fifty  feet,  and  Locusts 
between  to  supply  an  immediate  shade,  and  to  be  removed 
so  soon  as  the  slower-growing  elm  has  spread  enough  to 
dispense  with  them. 

THE  MAPLE. — The  following  varieties  are  in  our  forests, 
and  are  beautiful  shade-trees  for  the  borders  of  farms,  door- 
yards,  public  squares,  avenues,  streets,  etc.  The  Sugar 
Maple  (Acer  saccharinum),  White  Maple  (A.  eriocarpum,) 
Red  Maple  (A.  rubrum).  This  last  variety  shows  beautiful 
red  flowers  before  its  leaves  put  out  in  spring,  and,  like  the 
sugar-maple,  brilliant  scarlet  leaves  in  autumn.  The  maple 
is  a  beautiful  tree  of  fine  form,  the  leaves  of  the  different 
varieties  are  variously  shaped  and  all  beautiful,  it  is  free 
from  disease  and  noxious  insects. 

Besides  these,  the  ash,  oak,  tulip,  beech  and  walnut,  are 
all  worthy  of  being  transferred  to  our  streets.  Shade-trees 
for  door-yards,  and  public  squares,  and  pleasure-grounds, 
require  a  separate  notice,  as  in  some  material  respects  they 
should  be  differently  treated. 

We  warmly  recommend  in  lining  streets,  that  each  alter- 
nate tree  only  be  locust. 

It  is  better  for  effect  that  each  street,  or  at  least  con- 


ABOUT    FBUITS,   FLOTTEKS  AND   FABMING.  117 

iinuous  portions  of  each,  have  one  kind  of  forest  tree,  so 
that  an  avenue  of  similar  trees  be  formed.  In  planting 
grounds,  it  is  well  to  group  trees  of  different  kinds,  but  in 
streets  an  avenue  should  be  of  elms,  or  of  oaks,  or  of  syca- 
mores, or  of  maples,  and  not  all  of  them  mingled  together. 


A  PLEA  FOR    HEALTH    AND    FLORICULTURE. 

EVERY  one  knows  to  what  an  extent  women  are  afflicted 
with  nervous  disorders,  neuralgic  affections  as  they  are 
more  softly  termed.  Is  it  equally  well  known  that  formerly 
when  women  partook  from  childhood,  of  out-of-door  labors, 
were  confined  less  to  heated  rooms  and  exciting  studies, 
they  had,  comparatively,  few  disorders  of  this  nature. 
With  the  progress  of  society,  fevers  increase  first,  because 
luxurious  eating  vitiates  the  blood ;  dyspepsia  follows  next, 
because  the  stomach,  instead  of  being  a  laboratory,  is  turned 
into  a  mere  warehouse,  into  which  everything  is  packed, 
from  the  foundation  to  the  roof,  by  gustatory  stevedores. 
Last  of  all  come  neuralgic  complaints,  springing  from  the 
muscular  enfeeblement  and  the  nervous  excitability  of  the 
system. 

Late  hours  at  night,  and  later  morning  hours,  early  appli- 
cation to  books,  a  steady  training  for  accomplishments,  viz. 
embroidery,  lace-work,  painting  rice  paper,  casting  wax-flow- 
ers so  ingeniously  that  no  mortal  can  tell  what  is  meant  lilies 
looking  like  huge  goblets,  dahlias  resembling  a  battered  cab- 
bage ;  these,  together  with  practisings  on  the  piano,  or  if 
something  extra  is  meant,  a  little  turn,  turn,  turning,  on  the 
harp,  and  a  little  ting-tong  on  the  guitar ;  reading  "  ladies' 
books,"  crying  over  novels,  writing  in  albums,  and  original 
correspondence  with  my  ever-adored  Matilda  Euphrosyne, 
are  the  materials,  too  often,  of  a  fashionable  education 
While  all  this  refinement  is  bebg .  put  on,  girls  are  taught 


118  PLAIN   AND  PLEASANT  TALK 

from  eight  years  ol«l,  that  the  chief  end  of  women  is  to  get 
a  IM. in,  ami  convert  him  into  a  husband.  Therefore,  every 
action  must  be  on  purpose,  must  have  a  discreet  object  hi 
vic\v.  Girls  must  not  walk  fast,  that  is  not  lady-like  ;  nor 
run,  that  would  be  shockingly  vulgar ;  nor  scamper  over 
fields,  merry  and  free  as  the  bees  or  the  birds,  laughing  till 
the  cheeks  are  rosy,  and  romping  till  the  blood  march* •* 
merrily  in  every  vein  ;  for,  says  prudent  mamma,  "my  dear, 
do  you  think  Mr.  Lack-a-daisy  would  marry  a  girl  whom  he 
saw  acting  so  unfashionably  ?"  Thus,  in  every  part  of  edu- 
cation those  things  are  pursued,  whose  tendency  is  to 
excite  the  brain  and  nervous  system,  and  for  the  most  part 
those  things  are  not  "  refined,"  which  would  develop  the 
muscular  system,  give  a  natural  fullness  to  the  form,  and 
health  and  vigor  to  every  organ  of  it. 

The  evil  does  not  end  upon  the  victim  of  fashionable 
education.  Her  feebleness,  and  morbid  tastes,  and  preter- 
natural excitability  are  transmitted  to  her  children,  and  to 
their  children.  If  it  were  not  for  the  rural  habits  and 
health  of  the  vast  proportion  of  our  population,  trained  to 
hearty  labor  on  the  soil,  the  degeneracy  of  the  race  hi 
cities  would  soon  make  civilization  a  curse  to  the  health  of 
mankind. 

Now  we  have  not  one  word  to  say  against  "  accomplish- 
ments" when  they  are  real,  and  are  not  purchased  at  the 
expense  of  a  girl's  constitution.  She  may  dance  like 
Miriam,  paint  like  Raphael,  make  wax  fruit  till  the  birds 
come  and  peck  at  the  cunning  imitation ;  she  may  play  like 
Orpheus  harping  after  Eurydice  (or  what  will  be  more  to 
the  purpose,  like  a  Eurydice  after  an  Orpheus),  she  may 
sing  and  write  poetry  to  the  moon,  and  to  every  star  in  the 
the  heavens,  and  every  flower  on  earth,  to  zephyrs,  to 
memory,  to  friendship,  and  to  whatever  is  imaginable  in  the 
spheres,  or  <>n  the  world — if  she  will,  in  the  midst  <»f  tin-Mi 
ineffable  things,  remember  the  most  important  liu-ts,  that 
health  is  a  blessing ;  that  God  made  health  to  depend  upon 


ABOUT  FRUITS,   FLOWERS   AND  FARMING.  119 

exercise,  and  temperate  living  in  all  respects ;  and  that  tho 
great  objects  of  our  existence,  in  respect  to  ourselves,  is  a 
virtuous  and  pious  character,  and  in  respect  to  others,  the 
raising  and  training  of  a  family  after  such  a  sort  that 
neither  we,  nor  men,  nor  God,  shall  be  ashamed  of  them. 

Now  we  are  not  quite  so  enthusiastic  as  to  suppose  that 
floriculture  has  in  it  a  balm  for  all  these  mentioned  ills. 
We  are  very  moderate  in  our  expectations,  believing,  only, 
that  it  may  become  a  very  important  auxiliary  in  main, 
taining  health  of  body  and  purity  of  mind. 

When  once  a  mind  has  been  touched  with  zeal-  in  floricul- 
ture it  seldom  forgets  its  love.  If  our  children  were  early 
made  little  enthusiasts  for  the  garden,  when  they  were  old 
they  would  not  depart  from  it.  A  woman's  perception  of 
the  beauty  of  form,  of  colors,  of  arrangement,  is  naturally 
quicker  and  truer  than  man's.  Why  should  they  admire 
these  only  in  painting,  in  dress,  and  in  furniture?  Can 
In n nan  art  equal  what  God  has  made,  in  variety,  hue,  grace, 
symmetry,  order  and  delicacy  ?  A  beautiful  engraving  is 
often  admired  by  those  who  never  look  at  a  natural  land- 
scape ;  ladies  become  connoisseurs  of  "  artificials,"  who  live 
in  proximity  to  real  flowers  without  a  spark  of  enthusiasm 
for  them.  We  are  persuaded  that,  if  parents,  instead  of 
regarding  a  disposition  to  train  flowers  as  a  useless  trouble, 
a  waste  of  time,  a  pernicious  romancing,  would  inspire  the 
love  of  it,  nurture  and  direct  it,  it  would  save  their  daugh- 
ters from  false  taste,  and  all  love  of  meretricious  ornament. 
The  most  enthusiastic  lovers  of  nature  catch  something  of 
the  simplicity  and  truthfulness  of  nature. 

Now  a  constant  temptation  to  female  vanity — (if  it  may 
be  supposed  for  the  sake  of  argument,  to  exist)  is  a  display 
of  person,  of  dress,  of  equipage.  In  olden  times,  without 
entirely  hating  their  beauty,  our  mothers  used  to  be  proud 
nf  their  spinning,  their  weaving,  their  curiously-wrought 
apparel  for  bed  and  board.  A  pride  in  what  we  have 
is  not,  if  in  due  measure,  wrong  or  unwise ;  and  we  really 


120  PLAIN   JLND   PLEASANT  TALK 

think  that  rivalry  among  the  young  in  rearing  the  choicest 
plants,  the  most  resplendent  flowers,  would  be  altogether  a 
wise  exchange  for  a  rivalry  of  lace,  and  ribbons,  and  silks. 
And,  even  if  poor  human  nature  must  be  forced  to  allow 
the  privilege  of  criticising  each  other  something  severely, 
it  would  be  much  more  amiable  to  pull  roses  to  pieces,  than 
to  pull  caps ;  all  the  shafts  which  are  now  cast  at  the  luck- 
less beauty,  might  more  harmlessly  be  cast  upon  the  glow- 
ing shield  of  her  dahlias  or  upon  the  cup  of  her  tulips. 

A  love  of  flowers  would  beget  early  rising,  industry, 
habits  of  close  observation,  and  of  reading.  It  would 
incline  the  mind  to  notice  natural  phenomena,  and  to  reason 
upon  them.  It  would  occupy  the  mind  with  pure  thoughts, 
and  inspire  a  sweet  and  gentle  enthusiasm ;  maintain  sim- 
plicity of  taste ;  and  in  connection  with  personal  instruction, 
unfold  in  the  heart  an  enlarged,  unstraitened,  ardent  piety. 


KEEPING    1OUNQ    PIGS    IN    WINTER. 

THERE  is  both  negligence,  and  mistake,  in  the  way  of  win- 
tering pigs.  I  am  not  talking  to  those  whose  manner  of 
keeping  stock  is,  to  let  stock  take  care  of  themselves ;  but 
to  farmers  who  mean  to  be  careful.  Hogs  should  be  sorted. 
The  little  ones  will,  otherwise,  be  cheated  at  the  trough, 
and  overlaid  and  smothered  in  the  sleeping-heap.  There 
should  not  be  too  many  in  one  inclosure  ;  especially  young 
pigs  should  not  sleep  in  crowds ;  for,  although  they  sleep 
warmer,  they  will  suffer  on  that  very  account.  Lying  in 
piles,  they  get  sweaty ;  the  skin  is  much  more  sensitive  to 
the  cold,  and  coming  out  in  the  morning  reaking  and  smok- 
ing, the  keen  air  pierces  them.  In  this  way,  young  pigs  die 
off  through  the  winter  by  being  too  warm  at  night.  If  you 
have  the  land-shark  and  alligator  breed,  however,  you  should 
crowd  these  together,  for  the  more  they  die  off  the  better 
for  the  farmer. 


ABOUT  FBUITS,   FLO  WEES   AND   FARMING.  .  12  J 

SWEET   POTATOES. 

ALTHOUGH  our  practice  has  been  more  extensive,  and  ig 
more  skillful,  in  eating  sweet  potatoes  than  in  raising  them, 
we  yet  adventure  some  remarks :  No  root  can  live  and 
grow  without  food  from  the  leaf;  if  the  tops  be  permitted 
to  root,  so  much  nutriment  is  subtracted  from  the  tubers  as 
is  diverted  to  these  new  roots.  Those  who  are  best  skilled 
in  their  cultivation,  raise  their  vines  up  so  as  to  detach  the 
roots,  but  do  not  twist  them  round  the  hill ;  which,  by  crush- 
ing or  covering  the  leaves,  would  render  the  vines  unhealthy. 
As  to  vines  of  the  GucurMtacce^  their  fruit  not  being  under 
ground,  it  is  not  necessary  that  such  an  amount  of  pre- 
pared sap  should  go  to  the  root  as  if  tubers  were  formed. 
There  is,  in  such  vines,  a  great  liability  to  disease  and 
injury  near  the  hill.  The  vines  shrink  and  dry  near  the 
base ;  and  however  flourishing  the  running  end  may  other- 
wise be,  it  is  destroyed.  If  roots  are  secured  at  several 
points  along  the  vine,  we  remove  the  chances  of  its  prema- 
turely dying,  without  withdrawing  any  sap  necessary  for 
the  maturation  of  its  fruit. 


MANAGEMENT  OF  BOTTOM-LANDS. 

ALMOST  every  kind  of  soil  requires  a  management  of  its 
own.  That  proper  for  clays,  and  that  proper  for  bottom- 
lands, cannot  be  interchanged.  Bottom  lands  are  usually 
composed  largely  of  vegetable  matter  and  sand ;  and  are 
therefore  light,  and  easy  to  work ;  yet,  as  they  are  now 
managed,  they  admit  a  less  variety  of  crops  than  the 
tougher  and  more  unmanageable  clay  lands. 

BOTTOM-LANDS  FOR  CORN. — Our  corn-lands,  strictly  so 
called,  consist  of  rich  intervales  and  river  bottoms.  On 
these  corn  is  raised  year  after  year,  without  manuring,  fal- 

6 


122  PLAIN   AND    I'l. i:\s.\NT  TALK 

lowing,  clover,  or  any  ehanuv;  but  one  constant,  suce> 
corn,  corn,  corn.  It  is  supposed  that  corn  may  l>e  had  tor 
an  indefinite  period,  so  far  as  mere  exhaustion  of  the  soil  is 
concerned,  if  the  right  course  is  pursue.}.  Some  <>f  thel>r<t 
farmers  in  this  region  hog  their  com  lands.  Hogging,  is 
turning  the  hogs  in  upon  the  ripe  corn,  and  letting  tin  in 
harvest  it  in  their  own  way.  The  saving  of  labor  of  gath- 
ering the  corn  and  feeding  it  out  is  very  great.  Some  sin- 
gle farmers  fatten  from  one  to  five  hundred  head  of  hogs ; 
but  if  this  number  were  fed  by  hand  and  the  grain  gath- 
ered for  them  it  would  require  a  force  which  would  eat  up 
the  profits.  When  the  fatting  hogs  have  eaten  off  the  field 
(temporary  fences  divide  large  fields  into  inclosures  of  con- 
venient size)  they  are  turned  into  another,  and  the  stock- 
hogs  for  another  year,  are  let  in  to  glean  and  root  for.  the 
waste  and  trampled  corn.  In  this  way  nothing  is  lost. 

This  method  takes  very  little  off  from  the  land  /  for  the 
droppings  of  the  hogs  returns  a  great  amount  of  food  for 
the  soil ;  and  the  corn  stalks  being  burned  or  turned  under, 
the  land  continues  in  good  heart.  Land  being  hogged  will 
be  free  from  cut-worms  ;  for  the  continual  rooting  of  the 
stock-hogs,  which  continues  until  the  ground  freezes, 
throws  up  the  eggs  or  insect  to  be  destroyed  by  the  winter. 
This  method  of  cultivation  is  peculiarly  suited  to  large 
farms,  where  extensive  tracts  of  ground  are  kept  under  the 
plow. 

But  in  the  course  of  eight  or  ten  years,  this  process  ren- 
ders the  soil  extremely  light.  The  action  of  frost  upon  it, 
after  the  hogs  have  snout-plowed  it,  leaves  it  in  the  spring 
as  light  and  dry  as  an  ash-heap.  The  corn  will  still  grow 
as  well,  but  every  high  wind  will  throw  it  down  ;  the  soil 
has  not  tenacity  enough  to  hold  up  its  crop.  Clovering 
has  been  resorted  to  by  some  good  farmers  as  a  remedy ; 
but  without  pretending  to  know  certainly,  we  suspect 
that  clover  will  not  fully  answer  the  object.  Clover  on 
hard  soils,  separates  the  particles  and  renders  the  ground 


ABOUT  FRUITS,   FLOWERS   AND   FARMING.  123 

lighter,  and  adds  vegetable  matter  to  its  composition.  This 
is  not  what  bottom  land  needs.  It  is  too  light,  and  rich 
enough  in  vegetable  matter. 

Wo  believe  a  better  course  will  be  found  in  putting  bot- 
tom-lands to  small  grain.  To  be  sure,  there  are  difficulties 
in  the  way  of  this ;  but  good  farming  is  nothing  but  a  com- 
promise of  difficulties.  If  the  month  of  May  be  cold  and 
backward,  wheat  will  do  well  and  yield  freely.  But  if  the 
spring  is  forward,  May  warm  and  wet,  the  grain  will  run 
rank,  break  down  when  the  head  begins  to  fill,  and,  of 
course,  the  berry,  however  plump  and  well  it  might  have 
looked  in  the  milk,  will,  after  it  falls,  for  want  of  nourish- 
ment, light,  and  air,  shrink  and  shrivel.  But  even  in  such 
springs,  might  not  an  over  rankness  be  prevented  by  pastur- 
ing the  grain;  or  even  mowing  it,  when,  as  it  sometimes 
happens,  it  gets  ahead  of  what  cattle  are  put  upon  it.  But, 
a.t  the  worst,  the  grain  is  not  lost ;  for  if  it  lodges,  and  is 
spoiled  for  the  sickle,  hogs  may  be  turned  upon  it  and  they 
will  thrive  well. 

But  now  comes  the  advantage  of  small  grain  to  the  soil, 
which  will  be  the  same  whether  the  crop  is  reaped  or 
hogged.  The  straw  or  stubble,  in  either  case,  remains 
upon  the  ground.  This  should  not  be  plowed  in,  but 
burned,  and  the  ashes  plowed  under.  To  do  this  a  strip  of 
eight  feet  should  be  plowed  about  the  wrhole  field ;  and  fire 
put  to  it,  on  every  side  at  once,  so  that  it  may  burn  to- 
wards the  centre ;  for  fire,  driven  across  a  field,  would  leap 
many  feet  of  open  space  at  a  fence.  The  more  stubble  the 
better,  and  the  more  weeds  the  better.  The  ashes  will  give 
to  the  soil  just  what  it  lacks,  cohesion  or  firmness,  and 
moisture.  For,  to  make  a  dry  soil  moist,  requires  some 
substance  to  be  added,  which,  having  an  a  trinity  for  mois- 
ture, shall  attract  ami  retain  it.  This  is  the  nature  of  wood 
or  straw  ashes.  A  gentleman  who  will  recognize  in  the 
above  much  of  his  own  practical  experience,  mentioned  to 
us  a  singular  fact  in  corroboration  of  this  reasoning.  Hav- 


124  PLAIN  AND  PLEASANT  TALK 

ing  a  very  heavy  wheat  or  oat  stubble  on  a  bottom-land 
Held,  which  made  it  very  hard  for  the  plow,  he  burned  it 
over;  but  a  smart  thunder-storm  coming  suddenly  up,  the 
lire  was  extinguished,  leaving  about  five  acres  in  the  middle 
of  the  piece,  unburned.  The  whole  field  was  then  plowed. 
It  was  found  that  the  soil  in  the  part  burned  over  was  more 
linn,  and  moist,  all  the  ensuing  summer;  and  the  corn  more 
even,  and  darker  colored,  than  that  upon  the  five  acres 
which  escaped  the  fire,  and  whose  stubble  had  been  plowed 
in. 

At  all  events,  there  can  be  no  doubt  that  wood-ashes 
would  be  very  advantageous  to  bottom  lands.  And  we  arc 
persuaded  that  such  soils  may  be  kept  in  wheat  and  corn 
for  any  length  of  time,  if  thus  managed.  In  conclusion, 
corn  your  bottom-lands  till  they  are  too  light,  hogging 
instead  of  harvesting  them ;  then  put  in  wheat  or  oats  > 
leave  the  stubble  long,  burn  it  over,  and  put  it  into  wheat 
again,  or  to  corn,  as  the  case  may  be. 


CULTIVATION    OF    WHEAT. 

THERE  are  two  opinions  which  will  prevent  any  attempt 
to  improve  the  cultivation  of  wheat,  or,  indeed,  of  anything 
else.  The  first  is  the  opinion  that,  what  are  called  wheat- 
lands,  yield  enough  at  any  rate :  the  second  is  the  opinion 
of  those  who  own  a  soil  not  naturally  good  for  wheat,  that 
there  is  no  use  in  trying  to  raise  much  to  the  acre.  We 
suppose  that  wheat  will  not  average  more  than  twelve  bush- 
els to  the  acre,  as  it  is  now  cultivated  in  some  parts.  At 
that  rate,  and  with  too  low  prices,  it  is  not  worth  cultiva- 
tion for  commercial  purposes.  The  cost  of  seed,  of  labor 
in  preparing  the  soil,  putting  in  the  crop,  harvest  in  LI',  thn-*l:- 
ing,  and  carrying  it  to  market,  is  greater  than  the  value  of 
the  crop.  At  fifty  cents  a  bushel,  and  twelve  bushels  to  the 


ABOUT   FRUITS,    FLOWERS    AND    FARMING.  125 

acre,  the  farmer  gets  six  dollars,  which  certainly  does  not 
cover  the  worth  of  his  time  and  the  interest  on  his  land. 

Is  it  possible,  then,  at  an  expense  within  the  means  of 
ordinary  fanners,  to  bring  a  double  or  treble  crop  of  wheat  ? 
It'  nature  has  set  limits  to  the  produce  of  this  grain  to  the 
acre,  and  if  our  fanners  have  come  up  to  that  limit,  there  is 
no  use  in  their  trying  to  do  any  better.  But  if  their  crop  is 
four  fold  behind  what  it  ought  to  be,  they  will  feel  courage 
to  reach  out  for  a  better  mode  of  cultivation.  Vegetables 
collect  food  from  the  atmosphere,  and  from  the  soil ;  and 
different  plants  select  different  articles  of  food  from  the 
soil,  just  as  different  birds,  beasts,  insects,  etc.,  require 
different  food.  One  class  of  plants  draws  potash  largely 
from  the  soil,  as  turnips,  potatoes,  the  stalk  of  corn,  etc. 
Another  class  requires  lime,  in  great  measure,  as  tobacco, 
pea  straw,  etc.  Liebig  partially  classifies  plants  according 
to  the  principal  food  which  they  require ;  as  silica  plants, 
lime  plants,  potash  plants,  etc. 

Every  plant  being  composed  of  certain  chemical  elements, 
requires  for  its  perfection  a  soil  containing  those  elements. 
Thus  chemistry  has  shown,  by  exact  analysis,  that  good 
meadow  hay  contains  the  following  elements :  Silica  (sand), 
lime  (as  a  phosphate,  a  sulphate,  and  a  carbonate,  i.  e.  lime 
combined  with  phosphoric,  sulphuric,  and  carbonic  acids), 
potash  (as  a  chloride,  and  a  sulphate),  magnesia,  iron,  and 
soda.  Whatever  soil  is  rich  in  these  will  be  productive  of 
grass. 

The  grain  of  wheat  (in  distinction  from  the  straw)  con- 
tains, and  of  course  requires  from  the  soil,  sulphates  of  "pot- 
ash, soda,  lime,  magnesia,  iron,  etc. 

Any  vegetable,  in  its  proper  latitude,  will  flourish  in  a 
soil  which  will  yield  it  an  abundance  of  food;  and  decline 
in  a  soil  which  is  barren  of  the  proper  nutritive  ingredients. 

A  practical,  scientific  knowledge  of  these  fundamental 
facts,  will  give  an  intelligent  farmer,  in  grain-growing  lati- 
tudes, almost  unlimited  power  over  his  crops.  A  good 


126  I'LAIN     AND    IM.KASANT   TALK 

cook  knows  what  things  ,ire  required  for  bread;  he  selects 
these  materials,  compounds  them  to  deiinite  ]>roj)ortions — 
adding,  if  any  one  is  deficient;  subtracting,  if  any  one  i<  in 
excess.  Raising  a  crop  is  a  species  of  slow  cooking.  Here 
is  a  compound  of  such  materials  (called  wheat)  to  be  made. 
Nature  agrees  to  knead  them  together,  and  produce  the 
grain,  if  the  farmer  will  supply  the  materials.  To  do  this 
he  must  understand  what  these  materials  arc.  Suppose  a 
cook  perceiving  that  the  bread  was  wretched,  did  not  know 
exactly  what  was  the  matter;  and  should  add,  salt,  or  flour, 
or  yeast,  or  water  at  hap-ha/ard  ?  Yet  that  is  exactly  what 
multitudes  of  farmers  do.  They  find  that  their  fields  yield 
a  small  crop  of  wheat.  They  do  not  know  what  the  matter 
is.  Is  the  soil  deficient  in  lime,  or  sand,  or  clay  ?  Is  mag- 
nesia or  potash  lacking  ?  Perhaps  they  do  not  even  know 
that  these  things  are  requisite  to  this  crop.  "The  land 
must  be  manured."  Now,  manure  on  an  impracticable  soil, 
is  medicine.  Of  course  if  the  farmer  prescribes,  he  must 
tell  what  medicine,  i.  e.  what  manure.  Is  it  vegetable  mat- 
ter or  phosphates  ?  alumina  or  silica  ?  Suppose  a  doctor 
says :  "  You  are  sick  and  must  take  medicine,"  without 
knowing  what  the  disease  is,  or  what  the  appropriate 
remedy ;  and  so  should  pull  out  a  handful  of  whatever  there 
was  in  his  saddle-bags  and  dose  the  wretch  ?  That's  the 
way  farming  goes  on.  "  The  ten  acre  lot  wants  manure." 
To  the  barn  yard  he  goes,  takes  the  dung  heap,  plows  it 
under,  and  gets  an  enormous  crop  of— straw.  Nitrogenous 
manure  was  not  what  the  soil  wanted.  lie  has  added 
materials  which  existed  in  abundance  already;  but  those 
elements,  from  the  want  of  which  his  crop  suffered,  have 
not  been  given  it.  The  land  is  sicker  than  it  was  before. 
It  languishes  for  want  of  one  element,  it  suffers  from  a  sur- 
feit of  another.  We  are  prepared  to  sustain  these  observa- 
tions by  a  reference  to  authentic  facts. 

Massachusetts,  a  few  years  ago,  was  not  a  wheat-growing 
State.     Cautious  farmers  had  given  up  the  crop,  because 


ABOUT   FRUITS,   FLOWERS    AND   FARMING.  127 

neither  soil  nor  climate  was  supposed  to  favor  it.  How 
then  have  both  soil  and  climate  been  persuaded  to  relent, 
and  permit  from  twenty  to  forty  bushels  to  grow  to  the 
acre  ?  It  was  no  accident,  and  no  series  of  blind  but  lucky 
blunders,  that  effected  the  change.  It  was  thinking  that  did 
it.  It  was  a  change  wrought  by  science.  Elliot  (in  Con- 
necticut), Deane  (both  clergymen),  Dexter,  Lowell,  Fes- 
senden,  and  many  others,  all  men  of  science,  were  pioneers. 
Agricultural  surveys,  geological  surveys,  and  skillful  chemi- 
cal analyses  of  the  soil  and  its  products  have  been  made  for, 
now,  a  series  of  years.  A  Hitchcock,  a  Dana,  a  Jackson 
have  applied  science  to  agriculture.  Pamphlets,  books,  and 
widely  circulated  newspapers  have  diffused  this  knowledge. 
Agricultural  societies,  state  and  county ;  farmers'  meetings 
for  diKcussion,  such  as  are  held  every  winter  in  Boston, 
have  awakened  the  mind  of  farmers,  and  by  learning  to 
treat  their  soils  skillfully,  good  wheat  is  raised  in  large 
quantities  on  soils  naturally  very  averse  to  wheat. 

The  average  crop  of  wheat  in  great  Britain  is  twenty-six 
bushels  to  the  acre,  but  forty  and  fifty  are  common  to  good 
limners;  sixty,  seventy,  and  even  eighty  have  been  raised 
by  great  care. 

In  the  whole  United  States  it  will  not  average  much  more 
than  fifteen.  A  comparison  of  the  two  countries  will  show 
a  corresponding  inferiority  on  our  part  in  the  application  of 
science  to  agriculture.  Scotland,  formerly,  hardly  raised 
wheat.  Since  the  formation  of  the  Highland  Agricultural 
Society  in  Scotland,  wheat  has  averaged  fifty-one  bushels  to 
the  acre  ! — Ellsworth's  Report  for  1844,  p.  16. 

Lord  Ilardwicke  stated,  in  a  speech  before  the  Royal 
Agricultural  Society  of  England,  that  fine  Suffolk  wheat 
had  produced  seventy-six  bushels  per  acre;  and  another 
and  improved  variety  had  yielded  eighty-two  bushels 
per  acre !  This  was  the  result  of  "  book  farming "  in  a 
country  where  anti-book  farmers  raise  twenty-six  bushels 
to  the  acre. 


128  PLAIN  AND  PLEASANT  TALK 

Those  very  operations  which  farmers  call  practical,  and 
upon  which  they  rely  in  decrying  "book  farming"  wt'iv 
first  made  known  l>y  science,  and  through  the  writings  of 
scientific  men. 

These  views  have  an  immediate  and  practical  bearing  on 
the  cultivation  of  wheat  in  the  Western  States. 

Hitherto  the  want  of  enough  cleared  land  has  led  farm- 
ers to  put  in  wheat  among  the  corn,  and  half  put  it  in  at 
that.  Others  have  plowed  their  fallows,  or  their  irrass 
lands,  so  early  in  the  season,  that  rains  and  settling  have 
made  it  hard  again  by  seed-time.  Then,  without  stirring  it, 
the  grain  has  been  thrown  (away)  upon  it,  and  half  har- 
rowed in  and  left  to  its  fate.  Equally  bad  has  been  the 
system  of  late  single  plowing.  Others  have  given  their 
grain  no  soil  to  bed  their  roots  in ;  a  scratched  surface 
receives  the  grain ;  its  roots,  like  the  steward,  cannot  dig, 
and  so  get  no  hold ;  and  are  either  winter  killed,  or  subsist 
upon  the  scanty  food  of  the  three  or  four  inches  of  top  soil. 
With  some  single  exceptions,  wheat  cannot  be  said  to  have 
been  cultivated  yet.  The  two  great  operations  in  render- 
ing soil  productive  of  wheat,  are  either  the  development  of 
the  materials  already  in  the  soil ;  or,  the  addition  to  the 
soil  of  properties  which  are  wanting. 

Much  land  yielding  only  twelve  or  fifteen  bushels,  by  a 
better  preparation  would,  just  as  easily,  yield  thirty.  Let 
us  suppose  that  a  common  plowing  of  four  or  five  inches, 
precedes  sowing.  Out  of  this  superficial  soil  the  wheat  is 
to  draw  its  food.  Constant  cropping  has,  perhaps,  already 
diminished  its  abundance.  Then  wheat  is  rank  in  stem, 
short  in  the  head,  and  light  in  the  kernel.  But  below  there 
is  a  bed  of  materials  untouched.  The  subsoil,  if  brought 
up,  exposed  to  the  ameliorating  influence  of  the  ele- 
ments, will  furnish  in  great  abundance  the  elements 
required.  The  simple  operation  of  deep  and  thorough 
plowing  will,  often,  be  enough  to  increase  the  crop  one-half. 
Deep  plowing  gives  a  place  for  the  roots,  which  will  not  be 


ABOUT   FRUITS,    FLOWERS   AND   FARMING.  120 

apt  to  heave  out  in  winter ;  it  saves  the  wheat  from  drought,  it 
Lrivc*  the  nourishment  of  twice  the  quantity  of  soil  to  the  crop. 

Five  acres  may  become  ten  by  enlarging  the  soil  down- 
ward. These  remarks  are  desultory  ;  and,  while  we  intend 
to  continue  writing  on  the  subject,  we  say  to  such  as  may 
be  getting  ready  for  the  wheat-sowing,  plow  deeply  and 
thoroughly  /  unlike  corn,  wheat  can  only  be  plowed  once, 
and  that  at  the  beginning.  It  should  be  thoroughly  done, 
then,  once  for  all. 

WHEAT  LANDS  ought  to  be  so  farmed  as  to  grow  better 
from  year  to  year ;  certainly,  they  ought  to  hold  their  own. 
Lands  may  be  kept  in  heart  by  the  adoption  of  a  rotation 
suited  to  each  particular  soil ;  or,  if  frequent  wheat  crops  are 
raised,  by  fallows  or  manuring.  It  is  a  fact  that  in  this 
neighborhood  farms  in  the  hands  of  careful  men  are  yielding 
better  crops  of  wheat  every  year  ;  while  multitudes  of  far- 
mers think  themselves  fortunate  in  twelve  or  fifteen  bushels 
to  the  acre,  there  is  another  class  who  expect  twenty-five  or 
thirty  bushels,  and  in  good  seasons  get  it.  This  is  encou- 
r.-iumg.  As  our  lands  get  older  we  may  look  for  yet  better 
things.  Some  farmers  put  in  from  100  to  800,  and  even 
1,000  acres  of  wheat.  The  native  qualities  of  the  soil  are 
relied  upon  for  the  crop.  To  manure  or  clover  such  a  body 
of  land  is  impossible  with  any  capital  at  the  command  of  its 
owners.  But  with  us,  each  o wner  of  a  quarter  section  puts 
in  from  ten  to  twenty  acres,  and  it  lies  within  his  means  to 
dress  this  quantity  of  land  to  a  high  degree. 

SOILS  FIT  FOR  WHEAT. — A  vegetable  mold  cannot  yield 
wheat,  because  it  does  not  contain,  and  therefore  cannot 
afford  to  the  crop,  silicate  of  potash,  or  phosphate  of  mag- 
nesia; the  first  of  which  gives  strength  to  the  stem,  and 
the  second  of  which  is  necessary  to  the  grain.  On  such  soil 
wheat  may  grow  as  a  grass,  but  not  as  a  grain. 

A  mere  sand  will  not  yield  wheat ;  because  wheat  re- 
quires, and  such  soils  do  not  contain,  soda,  magnesia,  and 
especially  silicate  of  potash. 

0* 


130  PLAIN  AND   PLEASANT  TALK 

All  clays  contain  potash,  which  is  indispensable  to  wheat, 
but  they  may  be  deficient  in  soda,  in  magnesia,  and  in 
other  alkalies. 

A  calcareous  clay-loam  may  be  regarded  as  the  best  soil 
for  wheat.  And  when  it  does  not  exist  in  a  natural  stair, 
all  the  additions  in  the  form  of  manure  should  be  with 
reteivmv  to  the  formation  of  such  a  soil.  It'  the  land  be 
light  and  sandy,  clay,  and  marl,  and  wood  ashes  should  be 
added,  together  with  barnyard  manure ;  if  the  soil  is  a 
tenacious  clay,  it  should  be  warmed  and  mellowed  by  sand 
and  manure  ;  if  it  is  deficient  in  lime,  lime  in  substance,  or 
in  marl  must  be  given ;  vegetable  molds,  if  heavily 
dressed  with  wood-ashes  and  lime,  may  be  brought  to  pro- 
duce wheat. 

To  PREPARE  THE  GROUND. — This  operation  depends 
upon  the  condition  of  the  soil.  But,  in  all  cases,  the 
deepest  plowing  is  the  best.  The  roots  of  wheat,  if  un- 
checked, will  extend  more  than  five  feet.  Stiff,  tough,  soils, 
unbroken  for  years,  and  especially  if  much  trampled  by 
cattle,  will  require  strong  teams.  Oxen  are  better  than 
horses  to  break  up  with.  It  has  been  said,  that  a  yoke  of 
cattle  draw  a  plow  deeper,  naturally,  than  a  span  of 
horses.  They  are  certainly  better  fitted  for  dull,  dead, 
heavy  pulling.  And  if  oxen  have  been  well  trained  they 
will  do  as  much  plowing  in  a  season  as  horses,  and  come 
out  of  the  work  in  better  condition. 

Fallow  lands  should  be  broken  up  early  in  summer,  as 
soon  as  corn  planting  is  over ;  about  midsummer  plow 
again  ;  and  the  last  time  early  in  September  to  prepare  for 
seed. 

A  grass  or  clover  lay  *  may  be  plowed  under  deeply  at 

*  The  word  lay,  or  ley,  is  only  a  different  way  of  spelling  lea,  the  old 
English  word  for  field,  not  used  except  in  poetry  or  by  fanners  ;  and  it 
is  one,  among  many  instances,  of  old  Saxon  English  words  being  pre- 
served among  the  agricultural  population  long  after  they  have  ceased  to 
bo  generally  used. 


ABOUT  FRUITS,    FLOWERS   AND   FABMING.  131 

midsummer,  and  not  disturbed  till  sowing-time ;  and  the 
fall  plowing  should  not  disturb  the  inverted  sod. 

AVhc-n  wheat  is  to  be  sown  on  wheat  again,  as  large  a 
part  of  the  straw  should  be  left  in  the  harvest-field  as  pos- 
sible. This  is  to  be  plowed  under ;  but,  if  it  can  be  done 
without  endangering  the  fences,  it  would  be  better  to  burn 
it  over ;  the  ashes  will  contain  all  the  valuable  salts.  On 
this  point  we  extract  the  following  note  appended  by  the 
editor  of  Liebig^s  Agricultural  Chemistry. 

"  In  some  parts  of  the  grand-duchy  of  Hesse,  where  wood 
is  scarce  and  dear,  it  is  customary  for  the  common  people 
to  club  together  and  build  baking-ovens,  which  are  heated 
with  straw  instead  of  wood.  The  ashes  of  this  straw  are 
carefully  collected  and  sold  every  year  at  very  high  prices. 
The  fanners  there  have  found  by  experience  that  the  ashes 
of  straw  form  the  very  best  manure  for  wheat ;  although  it 
exerts  no  influence  on  the  growth  of  fallow-crops  (potatoes 
or  the  leguminosa),  for  example).  The  stem  of  wheat 
grown  in  this  way  possesses  an  uncommon  strength.  The 
cause  of  the  favorable  action  of  these  ashes  will  be  apparent, 
when  it  is  considered  that  all  corn-plants  require  silicate  of 
potash ;  and  that  the  ashes  of  straw  consist  almost  entirely 
of  this  compound. 

But  this  procedure  does  not  depend  upon  theoretical 
reasonings ;  it  has  been  abundantly  substantiated  by  the 
practice  of  English  cultivators.  We  find  on  page  333  of  the 
"  British  Husbandry,  "  an  admirable  work  published  under 
the  superintendence  of  the  Society  for  the  Diffusion  of 
Useful  Knowledge,  the  following  statement : 

"  The  ashes  of  burnt  straw  have  also  been  found  benefi- 
cial by  many  intelligent  practical  farmers,  from  some  of 
whose  experiments  we  select  the  following  instances. 
Advantage  was  taken  of  a  fine  day  to  fire  the  stubble  of  an 
oat-field  soon  after  harvest,  the  precaution  having  been  pre- 
viously taken  of  sweeping  round  the  boundary  to  prevent 
injury  to  the  hedges.  The  operation  was  easily  performed, 


132  PLATX    AXD    PLEASANT  TALK 

by  simply  applying  a  light  to  windward,  and  it  completely 
•yrd  rvery  weed  that  grew,  leaving  the  surface  com- 
pletely o>\ered  with  ashes;  and  tin-  following  crop,  which 
.\heat,  produced  full  live  quarters  per  acre.  This 
t-xciled  further  experiment,  the  result  of  which  was,  that  in 
the  following  season,  the  stubble  having  been  partly  plowed 
in  according  to  the  common  practice,  and  partly  burned? 
and  the  land  sown  with  wheat,  the  crop  produced  eight 
bushels  per  acre  more  on  that  portion  which  had  IMM  n 
burned,  than  on  that  which  had  been  plowed  in.  The 
same  experiment  was  repeated,  on  different  occasions,  with 
similar  results ;  and  a  following  crop  of  oats  having  been 
laid  down  with  seeds,  the  clover  was  found  perfectly 
healthy,  while  that  portion  on  which  the  burning  of  the 
stubble  had  been  omitted,  was  choked  with  weeds.  It 
must,  however,  be  recollected,  that  if  intended  to  have  a 
decided  effect,  the  stubble  must  be  left  of  a  considerable 
length,  which  will  occasion  a  material  deficiency  of  farm- 
yard manure;  though  the  advantages  will  be  gained  of 
saving,  the  cost  of  moving  the  stubs,  the  seeds  of  we«-ds  and 
insects  will  be  considerably  destroyed,  and  the  land  will 
be  left  unimpeded  for  the  operation  of  the  plow. 

"  On  the  wolds  of  Lincolnshire,  the  practice  of  no-*,  only 
burning  the  stubble,  but  even  the  straw  of  threshed  grain, 
has  been  carried,  in  many  cases,  to  the  extent  of  four  to 
six  loads  per  acre  ;  and,  as  it  is  described  in  the  report  of  the 
county,  has  been  attended,  in  all  those  instances,  with 
very  decidedly  good  effect.  It  is  even  said  to  have  been 
found^ superior,  in  some  comparative  trials,  to  yard-dung, 
in  the  respective  rate  of  five  tons  of  straw  to  ten  of  manure  !" 

We  frequently  ride  past  immense  piles  of  wheat  straw, 
encumbering  the  yard  or  field  where  it  was  threshed  ;  and 
never  without  thinking  upon  the  unthriftiness  of  a  farmer 
who  ignorantly  takes  everything  off  his  wheat  land,  re- 
turns nothing  to  it,  and  is  content  with  annually  diminish- 
ing crops. 


ABOUT  PEUITS,    FLOWERS   AND   FARMING.  133 

SELECTION  OF  SEEDS. — The  varieties  of  wheat,  already 
very  numerous,  are  constantly  increasing.  No  farmer 
should  bo  satisfied  with  anything  short  of  the  best  kind  of 
wheat.  Suppose  an  expense  of  many  dollars  to  have  been 
incurred  in  procuring  a  new  kind,  if  it  yield  only  two 
bushels  more  to  the  acre  than  an  old  sort,  it  will  more  than 
pay  for  itself  in  the  first  harvest  field.  It  should  be  observed 
that  different  soils  require  different  varieties;  and  every 
farmer  should  select,  after  trial,  the  kind  which  agrees  best 
witli  his  land. 

A  standard  wheat  should  be  hardy,  strong  in  the  straw ; 
not  easy  to  shell  and  waste,  prolific,  thin  in  the  bran,  white 
in  flour,  and  the  flour  rich  in  starch  and  gluten.  The 
earliness  or  lateness  of  a  variety  affects  its  liability  to  dis- 
ease. 

Much  may  be  done  by  every  fanner  to  secure  a  variety 
suited  to  his  soil  from  his  own  fields.  Let  a  watchful  eye 
observe  every  remarkable  head  of  wheat — a  very  early  one, 
a  very  long  head,  any  which  have  an  unusual  sized  grain, 
or  is  distinguished  for  any  excellent  property.  By  gather- 
ing, planting  separately,  and  then  culling  again,  each 
farmer  may  improve  his  own  wheat  fen  fold.  Indeed  it  has 
been  in  this  way  that  several  improved  varieties  have  been 
procured. 

Of  spring  wheat,  the  most  valuable  kinds  are,  Italian 
Sjyring  Wfieat /  bearded,  red  berry,  white  chaff,  head  long, 
bran  thick,  flour  of  fair  quality.  Tea  or  Siberian  Bald ; 
bright  straw,  not  long ;  berry  white,  bald ;  flour  good ; 
extensively  cultivated  in  New  England  and  northern  part  of 
N»'\s'  York.  Valuable  variety. 

BLACK  SEA  WHEAT. — White  chaff',  bearded,  berry  red, 
long  and  heavy,  bran  thick,  flour  inferior.  Ripens  very 
early,  and  seldom  rusts  or  mildews. 

The  following  are  also  the  spring  varieties.  Egyptian 
"Wild  Goose  or  California. — Large  and  branching  head, 
bearded,  berry  small,  bran  thick,  flour  coarse  and  yellow, 


184  PLAIN  AND   PLEASANT  TALK 

ripens  Into,  and  subject  to  rust.  Although  branching,  it  is 
not  productive.  There  is  a  winter  variety  also.  Rock 

Wheat^  from  Spain. — Chaff  white,  bearded,  berry  red  and 
long,  bran  thick,  flour  of  fair  quality,  hardy,  shows  small, 
well  adapted  for  new  lands  and  late  sowing.  Black 
Bearded. — Long  cultivated  in  New  York — stem  large, 
heavy  head,  berry  large  and  red,  beard  very  long  and  still', 
produces  flour  well.  Red  Bearded,  English. — ChaiF  red, 
bearded,  beards  standing  out,  berry  white,  weighs  from 
sixty  to  sixty-two  pounds.  Scotch  WJieat. — A  large  white 
wheat,  berry  and  straw  large. 

Spring  wheat  does  well  on  soils  which  heave  and  throw 
out  winter  wheat.  It  is  deemed  a  good  policy  to  sow  some 
spring  wheat  every  year,  that,  if  the  winter  wheat  fails,  a 
crop  may  still  be  on  hand. 

An  account  of  the  best  varieties  of  winter  wheat,  we 
extract  from  the  Western  Farmer  and  Gardener  : 

11  WHITE  FLINT. — A  winter  wheat,  very  white  chaff,  with- 
stood Hessian  fly  well,  has  yielded  fifty-four  bushels  to  the 
acre,  weighing  from  sixty-three  to  sixty-seven  pounds  per 
bushel.  Improved  White  Flint. — This  from  early  selection 
from  the  first.  White  Provence,  from  France. — A  white 
wheat — shows  small  heads,  well  filled  and  large.  Old  Red 
Chaff. — White  wheat,  old — subject  to  fly.  Kentucky, 

Wliite  Bearded. — White  wheat,  sometimes  called  Cana- 
dian Flint — early,  good  for  clay  soils.  Indiana  Wheat. — 
White  wheat — berry  white  and  large,  ripens  early,  not  so 
flinty  as  the  White  Flint,  good  flour,  valuable  for  clayey 
soils.  Velvet  Beard,  or  Crate  Wheat. — White  wheat — 
English  variety,  chaff  reddish,  berry  large  and  red,  straw 
large  and  long,  heads  long  and  well  filled,  beard  very  stiff, 
flour  yellowish.  Soule's  Wheat. — A  mixed  variety,  heads 
large,  berry  white,  not  very  hardy.  Beaver  Dam. — Old 
variety,  berry  red,  flour  yellowish,  ripens  late.  Eclipse. — 
English,  not  hardy.  Virginia  Wliite  May,  from  Virginia. — 
Winter,  good  flour,  chaff  white,  Wlieatland  Wfieat,  from 


ABOUT   FRUITS,    FLOWERS   AND  FARMING.  135 

Virginia. — Chaff  red,  heads  well  filled,  berry  red,  hardy. 
Tn^-i.tn  Bald,  from  Italy  in  1837. — Berry  large  and  white, 
not  hardy,  flour  good.  Tuscan  ^Bearded. — Head  large, 
still  less  hardy.  Yorkshire,  from  England,  ten  years  ago. 
— Mixed  variety  of  white  and  red  chaff,  bald,  berry  white, 
good  flour,  liable  to  injury  from  insects,  subject  to  ergot. 
Bellevere  1\dlavera. — White  variety  from  England,  head 
large,  tillers  well,  not  hardy,  insects  like  it  much.  Peggie- 
sham,  English. — Head  large,  berry  white,  and  medium 
sized,  tender  for  our  winters — (all  this  is  calculated  for  New 
York  State.)  Golden  Drop,  English. — Berry  red,  flour  not 
lirst  rate.  Skinner  Wheat. — Produced  from  crosses,  berry 
red,  chaff  white,  hardy,  yield  good,  sixty-four  pounds  to  the 
bushel.  Mediterranean. — Chaff  light,  red  bearded,  berry 
red  and  long,  very  flinty,  flour  inferior.  Hume's  WJiite 
Wtieat  from  crosses. — A  beautiful  white  wheat,  berry 
large,  bran  thin,  hardy  and  a  valuable  variety.  J3lue  Stem. 
— Cultivated  for  thirty-three  years,  berry  white,  sixty-four 
pounds  to  the  bushel,  flour  superior,  bran  thin,  and  very 
productive.  Valparaiso  WJieat,  from  South  America. — 
Chaff  white,  bald,  berry  white,  bran  thin,  a  good  vari- 
ety. 

PREPARING  SEED  FOR  SOWING. — Seed  wheat  should  be 
subjected  to  a  process  which  shall  separate  all  chess,  cockle, 
etc.,  from  it,  together  with  the  shrunken  kernels  of  the 
wheat  itself.  This  may  be,  in  part,  done  by  screening ;  but 
the  light  -grain  will  float  and  may  thus  be  detected  in  the 
process  of  brining.  Two  tubs,  or  half  barrels,  may  be  con- 
veniently used.  A  strong  brine  of  salt  and  water  is  pre- 
ferred, and  the  wheat,  in  convenient  parcels,  is  poured  in, 
the  light  wheat  skimmed  from  the  top,  the  brine  poured  off 
into  the  second  tub,  and  the  heavy  wheat  at  the  bottom 
put  into  some  suitable  receptacle  to  drain  for  an  hour. 
When  in  successive  parcels  the  whole  quantity  to  be  used 
has  been  brined,  let  it  be  emptied  upon  a  smooth  floor,  and 
limed  at  the  rate  of  about  a  bushel  of  lime  to  ten  of  wheat. 


130  PLAIN    AND    I'M    \SA\T    TALK 

By  this  process  the  cliatVy  ^rain  is  rejected,  tlie  smut,  to 
which  wheat  is  SO  liable,  is  entirely  prevented  ;  and  tlie 
strain  caused  to  germinate  m«uv  rapidly  and  strongly.  The 
lime  should  be  what  is  termed  quicklime,  or  that  ju*t 
slaked.  The  reason  may  be  explained.  No  seed  can  ger- 
minate until  it  has  rid  itself  of  a  large  part  of  that  carbon, 
which,  being  essential  to  its  preservation,  must  be  \\ith- 
draxvn  in  order  that  it  may  grow.  The  addition  of  oxygen 
from  air  and  water  converts  the  carbon  to  carbonic  acid, 
which  is  emitted  from  the  pores,  and  escapes.  Newly 
slaked  lime  has  a  powerful  affinity  for  carbonic  acid ;  and 
by  withdrawing  it  from  the  seed,  puts  it  in  a  condition 
favorable  to  immediate  germination.  Lime  that  has  been 
air-slaked  or  lain  exposed  to  the  air  after  being  slaked  by 
water,  combines  with  the  carbonic  acid  in  the  atmosphere, 
and  when  applied  to  wheat,  being  already  a  carbonate,  it 
does  not  liberate  the  carbonic  acid  contained  in  the  seed. 


PLEASURES  OF  HORTICULTURE. — There  is  no  writing  so 
detestable  as  so-called  fine  'writing.  It  is  painted  empti- 
ness. We  especially  detest  fine  writing  about  rural  affairs 
— all  the  senseless  gabble  about  dew,  and  zephyrs,  and  stars, 
and  sunrises — about  flowers,  and  green  trees,  golden  grain 
and  lowing  herds,  etc.  We  always  suspect  a  design  upon 
our  admiration,  and  take  care  not  to  admire.  In  short, 
geoponical  cant,  and  pastoral  cant,  and  rural  cant  in  their 
length  and  breadth,  are  like  the  whole  long  catalogue  of 
cants  (not  excepting  the  German  Kant),  intolerable.  Now 
and  then,  however,  somebody  writes  as  though  he  knew 
something  ;  and  then  a  free  and  bold  strain  of  commenda- 
tion upon  rural  affairs  is  relishful. 


ABOUT  FRUITS,   FLOWERS   AXD   FARMING.  137 


PRACTICAL    USE    OF    LEAVES. 

THERE  arc  two  fads  in  the  functions  of  the  leaf,  which 
are  wortli  consideration  on  account  of  their  practical  bear- 
ings, The  food  of  plants  is,  for  the  most  part,  taken  in 
solution,  through  its  roots.  Various  minerals — silex,  lime^ 
alumen,  magnesia,  potassa — are  passed  into  the  tree  in  a 
dissolved  state.  The  sap  passes  to  the  leaf,  the  superfluous 
water  is  given  off,  but  not  the  substances  which  it  held  in 
solution.  These,  in  part,  are  distributed  through  the  plant, 
and,  in  part,  remain  as  a  deposit  in  the  cells  of  the  leaf. 
Gradually  the  leaf  chokes  up,  its  functions  are  impeded, 
and  finally  entirely  stopped.  When  the  leaf  drops,  it  con- 
tains a  large  per  cent,  of  mineral  matter.  An  autumnal  or 
old  leaf  yields,  upon  analysis,  a  very  much  larger  propor- 
tion of  earthy  matter  than  a  vernal  leaf,  which,  being  yet 
young,  has  not  received  within  its  cells  any  considerable 
deposit.  It  will  be  found  also,  that  the  leaves  contain  a 
very  much  higher  per  cent,  of  mineral  matter,  than  the  wood 
of  the  trunk.  The  dried  leaves  of  the  elm  contain  more 
than  eleven  per  cent,  of  ashes  (earthy  matter),  while  the 
wood  contains  less  than  two  per  cent. ;  those  of  the  willow, 
more  than  eight  per  cent.)  while  the  wood  has  only  0.45  ; 
those  of  beech  6.69,  the  wood  only  0.36  ;  those  of  the  (Eu- 
ropean) oak  4.05,  the  wood  only  0.21 ;  those  of  the  pitch- 
pine  3.15,  the  wood  only  0.25 per  cent* 

It  is  very  plain,  from  these  facts,  that,  in  forests,  the  min- 
eral ingredients  of  the  soil  perform  a  sort  of  circulation; 
entering  the  root,  they  are  deposited  in  the  leaf;  then,  with 
it,  f:ill  to  the  earth,  and  by  its  decay,  they  are  restored  to 
the  soil,  again  to  travel  their  circuit.  Forest  soils,  there- 
fore, instead  of  being  impoverished  by  the  growth  of  trees, 
receive  back  annually  the  greatest  proportion  of  those 

*  See  Dr.  Grey's  Botanic  Text  Book,  an  admirable  work,  which  every 
horticulturist  should  own  and  study. 


138  LAIN   AND   PLEASANT  TALK 

mineral  elements  necessary  to  the  tree,  and  besides,  much 
organi/ed  matter  received  into  the  plant  from  the  atmos- 
phere ;  soils  therefore  are  gaining  instead  of  losing.  If 
owners  of  parks  or  groves,  for  neatness'  sake,  or  to  obtain 
>  for  other  purposes,  gather  the  annual  harvest  of 
S,  they  will,  in  time,  take  away  great  quantities  of  mine- 
ral matter,  by  which  the  soil,  ultimately,  will  be  impover- 
ished, unless  it  is  restored  by  manures. 

Leaf-manure  has  always  been  held  in  high  esteem  by  gar- 
deners. But  many  regard  it  as  a  purely  vegetable  sub- 
stance /  whereas,  it  is  the  best  mineral  manure  that  can  be 
applied  to  the  soil.  What  are  called  vegetable  loams  (not 
peat  soils,  made  up  principally  of  decomposed  roots),  con- 
tain large  quantities  of  earthy  matter,  being  mineral-vege- 
table, rather  than  vegetable  soils. 

Every  gardener  should  know,  that  the  best  manure  for 
any  plant  is  the  decomposed  leaves  and  substance  of  its  own 
species.  This  fact  will  suggest  the  proper  course  with  refer- 
ence to  the  leaves,  tops,  vines,  haulm,  and  other  vegetable 
refuse  of  the  garden. 

The  other  fact  connected  with  the  leaf,  is  its  function  of 
Exhalation.  The  greatest  proportion  of  crude  sap  which 
ascends  the  trunk,  upon  reaching  the  leaf,  is  given  forth 
again  to  the  atmosphere,  by  means  of  a  particularly  beauti- 
ful economy.  The  quantity  of  moisture  produced  by  a 
plant  is  hardly  dreamed  of  by  those  who  have  not  specially 
informed  themselves.  The  experiments  of  Hales  have  been 
often  quoted.  A  sun-flower,  three  and  a  half  feet  high, 
presenting  a  surface  of  5.616  square  inches  exposed  to  the 
sun,  was  found  to  perspire  at  the  rate  of  twenty  to  thirty 
ounces  avoirdupois  every  twelve  hours,  or  seventeen  times 
more  than  a  man.  A  vine  with  twelve  square  feet  exhaled  at 
the  rate  of  five  or  six  ounces  a  day.  A  seedling  apple-tree, 
with  twelve  square  feet  of  foliage,  lost  nine  ounces  a  day.* 

*  Lindley's  Horticulture,  p.  42-44.     Grey's  Botany,  p.  131. 


ABOUT  FRUITS,    FLOWERS   AXD   FARMING.  139 

These  are  experiments  upon  very  small  plants.  The  vast 
amount  of  surface  presented  by  a  large  tree  must  give  off 
immense  quantities  of  moisture.  The  practical  bearings  of 
this  fact  of  vegetable  exhalation  are  not  a  few.  AVet  for- 
est-lands, by  being  cleared  of  timber,  become  dry;  and 
streams,  fed  from  such  sources,  become  almost  extinct  as 
civilization  encroaches  on  wild  woods.  The  excessive  damp- 
ness of  crowded  gardens  is  not  singular,  and  still  less  is  it 
strange  that  dwellings  covered  with  vines,  whose  windows 
are  choked  with  shrubs,  and  whose  roof  is  overhung  with 
branches  of  trees,  should  be  intolerably  damp ;  and  when 
the  good  housewife  is  scrubbing,  scouring  and  brushing, 
and  nevertheless,  marvelling  that  her  house  is  so  infested 
^\ith  mold,  she  hardly  suspects  that  her  troubles  would  be 
more  easily  removed  by  the  axe  or  saw,  than  by  all  her 
cloths  and  brushes.  A  house  should  never  be  closely  sur- 
rounded with  shrubs.  A  free  circulation  of  air  should  be 
maintained  all  about  it,  and  shade-trees  so  disposed  as  to 
leave  large  openings  for  the  light  and  sun  to  enter.  Un- 
usual rains  in  any  season  produce  so  great  a  dampness  in  our 
residences  that  no  one  can  fail  to  notice  its  effect,  both  on 
the  health  of  the  occupants,  and  upon  the  beauty  and  good 
condition  of  their  household  substance. 


THE  following  method  to  destroy  weeds  is  pursued  at  the 
mint  in  Paris,  with  good  effect:  10  gallons  water,  20  Ibs. 
quicklime  and  2  Ibs.  flowers  of  sulphur  are  to  be  boiled  in  an 
iron  vensel ;  after  settling,  the  clear  part  is  thrown  off  and 
used  when  needed.  Care  must  be  taken,  for  if  it  will 
destroy  weeds  it  will  just  as  certainly  destroy  edgings  and 
border  flowers  if  sprinkled  on  them.  "Weeds,  thus  treated, 
will  disappear  for  several  yenrs. 


140  PLAIN   AND   PLEASANT  TALK 


SPRING-WORK    FOR    PUBLIC-SPIRITED    MEN. 

SHADE-TREES. — One  of  the  first  things  that  will  require 
your  action  is,  the  planting  of  shade-trees.  Get  your  neigh- 
bors to  join  with  you.  Agree  to  do  four  times  as  much  MS 
your  share,  and  you  will,  perhaps,  then  obtain  sonic  help. 
Try  to  get  some  more  to  do  the  same  in  each  street  of  your 
village  or  town. 

Locusts,  of  course  you  will  set  for  immediate  shade. 
They  will  in  three  years  afford  you  a  delightful  verdant 
umbrella  as  long  as  the  street.  But  maples  form  a  charm- 
ing row,  and  the  autumnal  tints  of  their  leaves  and  the 
spring  flowers  add  to  their  beauty.  They  grow  quite 
rapidly,  and  in  six  years,  if  the  soil  is  good  and  the  trees 
properly  set,  they  will  begin  to  cast  a  decided  shadow. 
Elms  are,  by  far,  the  noblest  tree  that  can  be  set,  but  they 
will  have  their  own  time  to  grow.  It  is  best  then  to  set 
them  in  a  row  of  other  trees,  at  about  fifty  or  a  hundred 
feet  apart,  the  intervening  space  to  be  occupied  with 
quicker-growing  varieties. 

The  beech,  buckeye,  horse-chesnut,  sycamore,  chestnut, 
and  many  others  may  be  employed  with  advantage.  Now, 
do  not  let  your  court-house  square  look  any  longer  so  bar- 
ren. 

Avenues  may  be  lined  with  rows  of  trees,  but  squares 
and  open  spaces  should  have  them  grouped  or  scattered  in 
small  knots  and  parcels  in  a  more  natural  manner. 

MAY-WEED. — There  was  never  a  better  time  to  extermin- 
ate this  villainous,  stinking  weed  than  summer-time  will  be. 
Just  as  soon  as  the  first  blossoms  show,,  "  up  and  at  it."  Club 
together  hi  your  streets  and  agree  to  spend  one  day  a-mow- 
ing.  Keep  it  down  thoroughly  for  one  season  and  it  will 
no  longer  bedrabble  your  wife's  and  daughter's  dresses, 
nor  fill  the  air  with  its  pungent  stench,  or  weary  the  eye 
with  its  everlasting  white  and  yellow. 

SIDE-WALKS. — What  if  your  neighbors  are  lazy;  what  if 


ABOUT  FRUITS,   FLOWERS   AND   FARMING.  141 

they  do  not  care  ?  Some  one  ought  to  see  that  there  are 
good  gravel  walks  in  each  village.  You  can  have  them  in 
this  way :  Take  your  horse  and  cart  and  make  them  before 
your  own  grounds,  and  then  go  on  no  matter  who  owns, 
and  when  your  neighbors  see  that  you  have  public  spirit, 
they  will,  by  and  by,  be  ready  to  help  you.  But  the  grand 
way  to  do  nothing,  is,  not  to  lift  a  finger  yourself,  and  then 
to  rail  at  your  fellow-citizens  as  selfish  and  devoid  of  all 
public  spirit. 

PROTECT  PUBLIC  PROPERTY. — What  if  it  does  concern 
everybody  else  as  much  as  it  does  you  ?  Some  one  ought 
to  see  that  the  fences  about  every  square  are  kept  in  repair. 
Some  one  ought  to  save  the  trees  from  cattle ;  some  one 
ought  to  have  things  in  such  trim  as  that  the  inhabitants 
can  be  proud  of  their  own  town.  Pride  is  not  decent  when 
there  is  nothing  to  be  proud  of;  but  when  things  are  worthy 
of  it,  no  man  can  be  decent  who  is  devoid  of  a  proper 
pride.  The  church,  the  schoolhouse,  fences,  trees,  bridges, 
roads,  public  squares,  sidewalks,  these  are  things  which  tell 
tales  about  people.  A  stranger,  seeking  a  location,  can 
hardly  think  well  of  a  place,  in  which  the  distinction 
between  the  house  and  stye  are  not  obvious ;  in  which  every 
one  is  lazy  when  greediness  does  not  excite  him,  and  where 
general  indolence  leaves  no  time  to  think  of  the  public 
good. 

When  politicians  are  on  the  point  of  dissolving  in  the 
very  fervent  heat  of  their  love  for  the  public,  it  would 
recall  the  fainting  soul  quicker  than  hartshorn  or  vinegar  to 
ask  them — Did  you  ever  set  out  a  shade-tree  hi  the  street  ? 
Did  you  ever  take  an  hour's  pains  about  your  own  village  ? 
Have  you  secured  it  a  lyceum  ?  Have  you  watched  over  its 
schools.?  Have  you  aided  in  any  arrangements  for  the 
relief  of  the  poor?  Have  you  shown  any  practical  zeal  for 
good  roads,  good  bridges,  good  sidewalks,  good  school- 
houses,  good  churches  ?  Have  the  young  men  in  your  place 
a  public  library  ? 


142  PLAIN  AND  PLEASANT  TALK 

If  the  question  wore  put  to  many  distmgmflhecl  village 
patriots,  What  have  you  done  for  the  public  good? — the 
answer  would  be:  "Why,  I've  talked  till  I'm  hoarse,  and 
an  ungrateful  public  refuse  me  any  office  by  which  I 
may  show  my  love  of  public  affairs  in  a  more  practical 
manner." 


FARMERS    AND     FARMING    SCENES    IN    THE    WEST. 

IF  any  one  goes  to  Holland  they  are  all  Dutch  formers 
there ;  if  he  goes  to  England  he  finds  British  husbandry ; 
iu  New  England  it's  all  Yankee  farming.  A  man  must 
go  to  the  West  to  see  a  little  of  every  sort  of  farming 
that  ever  existed,  and  some  sorts  we  will  affirm,  never  had 
an  existence  before  anywhere  else — the  purely  indigenous 
farming  of  the  great  valley.  Within  an  hour's  ride  of  each 
other  is  the  Swiss  with  his  vineyard,  the  Dutchman  witli 
his  spade,  the  "Pennsylvany  Dutch"  and  his  barn,  the  Yan- 
kee and  his  notions,  the  Kentuckian  and  his  stock,  the  Irish- 
man  and  his  shillelah,  the  Welchman  and  his  cheese,  besides 
the  supple  French  and  smooth  Italian,  with  here  and  there 
a  Swede  and  a  very  good  sprinkling  of  Indians. 

Away  yonder  to  the  right  is  a  little  patch  of  thirty  acres 
owned  by  a  Yankee.  He  keeps  good  cows,  one  horse  only 
(fat  enough  for  half  a  dozen)  ;  every  hour  of  the  year,  save 
only  nights  and  Sabbath-days  he  is  at  work,  and  neat  fences, 
clean  door-yard,  a  nice  barn,  good  crops,  and  a  profitable 
dairy,  and  money  at  interest,  show  the  results.  What  if  he 
ha*  but  thirty  acres,  they  are  worth  any  two  hundred  around 
him,  it'  what  a  man  makes  is  a  criterion  of  the  value  of  his 
farm.  But  a  little  farther  out  is  a  jolly  old  Kentucky 
farmer,  the  owner  of  about  five  hundred  acres  of  the  best 
land  in  the  county,  which  he  tills  when  he  has  nothing  elso 


ABOUT  FRUITS,    FLOWERS   AND   FARMING.  143 

to  do.  He  is  a  great  hunter  and  must  go  out  for  three  or 
four  days  every  season  after  deer.  He  loves  office  quite 
well,  and  is  always  willing  to  "  serve  the  public  "  for  a  con- 
sid-er-a-tion,  as  Trapbois  would  say.  As  to  farming,  he 
hires  more  than  he  works ;  but,  now  and  then,  as  at  plant- 
ing or  harvesting,  he  will  lay  hold  for  a  week  or  a  month 
with  perfect  farming  fury,  and  that's  the  last  of  it.  As  to 
working  every  day  and  every  hour,  it  would  be  intolerable ! 
He  is  a  great  horse-raiser,  is  fond  of  stock,  and  if  a  free  and 
easy  fellow  ready  to  laugh,  not  careful  of  his  purse,  nor 
particular  about  his  time,  will  ride  over  his  grounds,  admire 
his  cattle,  his  bluegrass  pasture,  his  Pattons  and  his  Dur- 
hams;  and  above  all,  that  blooded  filly,  or  that  colt  of  Sir 
Archie's — our  Kentucky  farmer  will  declare  him  the  finest 
fellow  alive,  and  his  house  will  be  open  to  him  from  year's 
end  to  year's  end  again. 

Right  along  side  of  him  is  a  "  Pennsylvany  Dutch,"  good- 
natured,  laborious,  frugal  and  prosperous.  He  minds  his 
own  business.  Seldom  wrangles  for  office.  Is  not  very 
public  spirited,  although  he  likes  very  well  to  see  things 
prosper.  He  farms  carefully  on  the  old  approved  plan  of 
his  father,  plants  by  the  signs  in  the  moon,  seldom  changes 
his  habits,  and  on  the  whole  constitutes  a  very  substantial, 
clean,  industrious,  but  unenterprising  farmer. 

Then  there  is  a  New  York  Yankee ;  he  has  got  a  grand 
piece  of  land,  has  paid  for  it,  and  got  money  to  boot ;  he 
knows  a  little  about  everything  ;  he  "  lays  off"  the  timber 
for  a  fine  large  house — bossed  the  job  himself.  "When  it 
was  up  he  stuck  on  a  kitchen,  then  a  pantry  on  to  that,  then 
a  pump-room  on  that,  then  a  wood-house  on  that,  and  then 
a  smoke-house  for  the  fag  end  ;  a  fine  garden,  a  snug  little 
v  well  tended,  good  orchards ;  by  and  by  a  second 
farm,  pretty  soon  a  boy  on  it,  all  married  and  fixed  off;  by 
mid  by  again  another  snug  little  farm,  and  then  another 
boy  on  it,  with  a  little  wife  to  help  him ;  and  then  a  spruce 
young  fellow  is  seen  about  the  premises,  and  after  a  while 


144  PLAIN  AND   PLEASANT  TALK 

a  daughter  disappears  and  may  be  found  some  miles  off  on 
a  good  farm,  making  butter  and  raising  children,  and  has 
good  luck  at  both.  The  old  man  is  getting  fat,  has  money 
lent  out,  loves  to  see  his  friends,  house  neat  as  a  pin,  glori- 
ous place  to  visit,  etc.,  etc.  But  who  can  tell  how  many 
sorts  more  there  are  in  the  great  heterogeneous  West, 
and  how  amusing  the  mixture  often  is,  and  what  strange 
customs  grow  out  of  the  mingling  of  so  many  diverse 
materials.  It  is  like  a  kaleidoscope,  every  turn  gives  a  new 
sight.  "We  will  take  our  leisure,  and  give  some  sketches  of 
men,  and  manners  and  sceneiy,  as  we  have  seen  them  in  the 
West. 

About  eight  years  ago  a  raw  Dutchman,  whose  only 
English  was  a  good-natured  yes  to  every  possible  question, 
got  employment  here  as  a  stable-man.  His  wages  were  six 
dollars  and  board ;  that  was  $36  in  six  months,  for  not  one 
cent  did  he  spend.  He  washed  his  own  shirt  and  stock- 
ings, mended  and  patched  his  own  breeches,  paid  for  his  to- 
bacco by  some  odd  jobs,  and  laid  by  his  wages.  The  next  six 
months,  being  now  able  to  talk  "  goot  Inglish,"  he  obtained 
eight  dollars  a  month,  and  at  the  end  of  six  months  more 
had  $48,  making  in  all  for  the  year  $84.  The  second  year, 
by  varying  his  employment — sawing  wood  in  winter,  work- 
ing for  the  corporation  in  summer,  making  garden  in 
spring,  he  laid  by  $100,  and  the  third  year  $125,  making 
in  three  years  $309. 

With  this  he  bought  80  acres  of  land.  It  was  as  wild  as 
when  the  deer  fled  over  it,  and  the  Indian  pursued  him. 
How  should  he  get  a  living  while  clearing  it  ?  Thus  he  did 
it.  He  hires  a  man  to  clear  and  fence  ten  acres.  He  him- 
self remains  in  town  to  earn  the  money  to  pay  for  the 
clearing.  Behold  him!  already  risen  a  degree,  he  is  an 
employer!  In  two  years' time  he  has  twenty  acres  wi-Jl 
cleared,  a  log-house  and  stable,  and  money  enough  to  buy 
stock  and  tools.  He  now  rises  another  step  in  the  world, 
for  he  gets  married,  and  with  his  amply-built,  broad-faced, 


ABOUT  FRUITS,   FLOWERS    AND   FARMING.  145 

good-natured  wife,  he  gives  up  the  town  and  is  a  regular 
fanner. 

In  Germany  he  owned  nothing  and  never  could;  his 
wages  were  nominal,  his  diet  chiefly  vegetable,  and  his 
prospect  was,  that  he  would  be  obliged  to  labor  as  a  menial 
for  life,  barely  earning  a  subsistence  and  not  leaving 
enough  to  bury  him.  In  five  years,  he  has  become  the 
owner  in  fee  simple  of  a  good  farm,  with  comfortable  fix- 
tures, a  prospect  of  rural  wealth,  an  independent  life,  and, 
by  the  blessing  of  heaven  and  his  wife,  of  an  endless  pos- 
terity. Two  words  tell  the  whole  story — Industry  and 
Economy.  These  two  words  will  make  any  man  rich  at 
the  West. 

We  know  of  another  case.  While  Gesenius,  the  world- 
wide famous  Hebrew  scholar,  was  as  school,  he  had  a 
bench-fellow  named  Eitlegeorge.  I  know  nothing  of  his 
former  life.  But  ten  years  ago  I  knew  him  in  Cincinnati  as 
a  baker,  and  a  first-rate  one  too ;  and  while  Gesenius  issued 
books  and  got  fame,  Eitlegeorge  issued  bread  and  got 
money.  At  length  he  disappeared  from  the  city.  Travel- 
ling from  Cincinnati  to  Indianapolis,  a  year  or  two  since,  I 
came  upon  a  farm  of  such  fine  land  that  it  attracted  my 
attention,  and  induced  me  to  ask  for  the  owner.  It  belonged 
to  our  friend  of  the  oven !  There  was  a  whole  township 
belonging  to  him,  and  a  good  use  he  appeared  to  make  of 
it.  Courage  then,  ye  bakers !  In  a  short  time  you  may 
raise  wheat  instead  of  molding  dough. 


A  HOLE  IN  THE  POCKET. — If  it  were  not  for  these  holes 
in  the  pocket,  we  should  all  be  rich.  A  pocket  is  like  a  cis- 
tern, a  small  leak  at  the  bottom  is  worse  than  a  large  pump 
at  the  top.  God  sends  rain  enough  every  year,  but  it  is 
not  every  man  that  will  take  pains  to  catch  it ;  and  it  is  not 
every  man  that  catches  it  who  knows  how  to  keep  it. 

7 


146  PLAIN  AND  PLEASANT  TALK 


ORNAMENTAL    SHRUBS. 

A  DESCRIPTION  of  a  few  of  the  desirable  flowering  and 
ornanu-ntal  shrubs  for  yards  and  lawns  may  enable  our 
readers  to  select  with  judgment. 

PRIVET. — This  is  quite  beautiful  as  a  single  plant ;  but 
is  universally  employed  for  hedges,  verdant  screens,  etc. 
There  is  an  evergreen  variety,  originally  from  Italy,  by  far 
the  best.  The  roots  of  this  plant  are  fibrous,  don't  spread 
much  ;  the  limbs  endure  the  shears  very  patiently ;  it  grows 
very  rapidly,  two  full  seasons  being  sufficient  to  form  a 
hedge ;  and  it  will  flourish  under  the  shade  and  drip  of 
trees. 

ROSE  ACACIA  (Robinia  hispida). — This  is  a  species  of 
the  locust,  of  a  dwarf  habit,  seldom  growing  six  feet  in 
height,  and  covered  with  fine  spines  which  give  its  branches 
a  mossy  appearance.  Its  blossoms  resemble  the  locust,  but 
are  of  a  pink  color.  It  is  often  grafted  upon  the  locust  to 
give  it  a  higher  head  and  better  growth.  It  should  be  in 
every  shrubbery. 

VENETIAN  SUMACH,  or  smoke  tree  (Rhus  cotinus). — The 
peculiarky  of  this  shrub  is  in  the  large  bunches  of  russet- 
colored  seed-vessels,  looking,  at  a  little  distance,  like  a  jmfF 
of  smoke.  The  French  and  Germans  call  it  periwig-tree, 
from  the  resemblance  of  these  russet  masses  to  a  powdered 
wig.  It  grows  freely,  and  is  highly  ornamental. 

There  are  two  other  species  of  sumach  worthy  of  cultiva- 
tion ;  the  Rhus  typhina,  or  Stag's  Horn  sumach,  of  a  fine 
flower,  and  whose  leaves  turn  in  autumn  to  a  beautiful  pur- 
plish red;  and  the  R.  glabra,  or  Scarlet  sumach,  having 
red  flowers  and  fruit  of  a  \elvety  scarlet  appearance,  chang- 
ing as  it  ripens  to  crimson. 

SYRINGA,  or  Mock  Orange  (Philadelphus  coronarius),  is 
a  beautiful  shrub,  having,  in  the  spring,  flowers  of  a  pure 
white,  and  of  an  odor  only  less  exquisite  than  that  of  the 
orange ;  whence  one  of  its  popular  names.  Th$  leaves  havt 


ABOUT  FRUITS,   FLOWERS   AND   FARMING.  147 

the  smell  of  the  cucumber,  and  are  sometimes  used  in  spring 
to  flavor  salads.  It  grows  freely,  even  under  the  shade  of 
trees,  which,  in  all  low  shrubs,  is  a  valuable  quality.  There 
is  also  a  large  flowered  inodoious  variety.  The  popular 
name,  Syringa,  is  the  botanical  name  of  the  lilac;  but 
these  plants  are  not  in  the  remotest  degree  related  to  each 
other. 

LILAC. — This  well-known  and  favorite  little  tree  requires 
only  to  be  mentioned.  There  is  a  white  variety,  and  deli- 
cately-leaved  variety  called  the  Persian. 

SNOWBALL  ( Viburnum  opulus),  everywhere  known,  and 
everywhere  a  favorite  ;  and  scarcely  less  so  is  the 

WAXBERRY,  or  Snowberry,  (Symphora  racemosa),  intro- 
duced by  Lewis  and  Clark  to  the  public  attention,  and  first 
raised  from  seed  by  McMahan,  a  gardener  of  some  note. 
When  its  fruit  is  grown,  it  has  a  beautiful  appearance. 
'  TAMARISK  (Tamarix  g allied) ,  a  sub-evergreen  of  very 
beautiful  feathery  foliage,  of  rapid  growth,  and  highly  orna- 
mental in  a  shrubbery.  It  will  grow  in  very  poor  soil. 

SHEPARDIA,  or  Buffalo  Berry,  from  the  Rocky  Mountains, 
a  low  tree,  with  small  silvery  leaves,  a  currant-like  fruit, 
which  is  edible.  This  is  worthy  of  cultivation.  It  is  dio3- 
cious,  and  the  male  and  female  trees  must  therefore  be 
planted  in  proximity. 

DWARF  ALMOND  (Amygdalus  nana),  but  now  called  by 
botanists  Cerasus  or  Prunus  japonica.  This  favorite  shrub 
is  found  in  all  gardens  and  yards.  The  profusion  of  its 
blossoms  and  the  delicacy  of  their  color  make  it,  during  the 
short  time  of  its  inflorescence,  deservedly  a  favorite.  As  it 
flowers  before  its  leaves  put  forth,  it  requires  a  green  back- 
ground to  produce  its  full  effect.  It  should  therefore  be 
planted  alpinist  evergreens. 

WOOD  HONEYSUCKLE  (Azalea). — This  is  a  native  of  North 
America,  and  is  ]..  if, ,  i |y  hardy.  It  flourishes  best  in  a  half 
shade,  :m<l  flowers  freely.  There  have  been  a  vast  number 
of  varieties  originated  from  crossing  the  species;  and  the 


148  PLAIN   AND   PLEASANT  TALK 

nurseries  will  supply  almost  every  shade  of  color  from  white 
to  brilliant  flame  color. 

The  A.  pontica,  is  also  hardy ;  but  the  Chinese  species 
require  a  greenhouse.  This  is  one  of  the  most  magnificent 
shrubs  that  can  be  cultivated,  and  deserves  the  special  atten- 
tion of  those  who  wish  to  form  even  a  moderately  good 
shrubbery. 

The  BERBERRY  (Berberis  vulgaris)  is  quite  beautiful  when 
in  fruit.  It  is  easily  propagated,  grows  in  any  soil,  requires 
little  pruning,  and  is  very  good  for  hedges. 

GLOBE  FLOWER  (Corchorus  japonica). — A  very  pretty 
shrub  with  double  yellow  flowers,  which  are  in  abundance 
early  in  the  summer,  and  also,  but  sparingly,  shown  through- 
out the  season. 

"By  some  mistake  Kerria  japonica  was  at  first  supposed 
to  belong  to  Corchorus,  a  genus  of  Tiliaceae,  and  of  course 
nearly  allied  to  the  lime-tree  ;  to  which  it  bears  no  resem- 
blance, though  it  is  still  called  Corchorus  japonica  in  the 
nurseries.  It  is  also  singular,  that  though  the  double-flow- 
ered variety  was  introduced  into  England  in  1700,  the  spe- 
cies was  not  introduced  till  1835.  It  is  a  delicate  little 
shrub,  too  slender  to  support  itself  in  the  open  air ;  but 
when  trained  against  a  wall,  flowering  in  great  profusion. 
It  should  be  grown  in  a  light,  rich  soil,  and  it  is  propagated 
by  cuttings." —  Companion  to  the  Flower  Garden. 

LABURNUM  (Cytisus  laburnum). — This  beautiful  plant 
forms  a  small  tree,  which,  in  May,  is  covered  with  pendant 
yellow  blossoms.  Blooming  at  the  same  time  with  the  lilac, 
the  two  planted  together  have  an  extremely  beautiful  effect. 
It  is  hardy,  grows  in  any  soil,  and  is  propagated  easily  by 
seed. 

The  Scotch  Laburnum  (C.  alpinus),  is  much  more  beau- 
tiful than  the  common  kind,  "  the  flowers  and  leaves  being 
larger  and  the  flower  more  frequently  fragrant.  They  are 
also  produced  much  later  in  the  season,  not  coming  into 
flower  till  the  others  are  quite  over." 


ABOUT  FRUITS,   FLOWERS   AND   FARMING.  149 

ALTHKA,  or  Rose  of  Sharon  (Hibiscus  Syriacus). — One 
of  the  most  desirable  shrubs  for  yards  and  gardens.  The 
form  of  the  shrub  is  compact  and  sightly ;  flowers  double, 
and  may  be  had  of  every  color ;  it  is  hardy,  growing  well 
in  all  soils,  and  blooms  continually  from  the  last  of  July  till 
frost.  It  is  beautiful  in  avenues,  and,  being  patient  of  the 
shears,  it  will  form  a  fine  floral  hedge,  a  good  specimen  of 
which  may  be  seen  on  Mr.  Hoffner's  beautiful  grounds  near 
Cincinnati.  The  single  altheas  are  not  so  desirable.  We 
regard  this  shrub  as  worthy  of  much  more  extensive  culti- 
vation than  it  has  received.  Its  flowers  are  coarse  on  a 
close  inspection,  but  at  a  little  distance,  and  among  other 
plants  its  effect  is  excellent.  It  is  very  easily  propagated 
by  cuttings,  or  from  the  seed. 

SWEET-SCENTED  SHRUB  (Catycanthus Floridus). — Chief- 
ly desirable  from  the  pine-apple  fragrance  of  its  brownish- 
purple  flowers.  They  are  used  to  scent  drawers,  to  carry 
n  the  pocket,  etc.  It  grows  freely  in  any  dry,  ric  \  soil, 
and  is  propagated  by  layers  and  suckers. 

RED-BUD  ( Cercis  Canadensis.) — This  small  tree  is  fami- 
liar to  every  one,  being  the  first  spring  flowering  tree  of  our 
woods.  It  flourishes  in  gardens  and  makes  a  finer  appear- 
ance there  than  in  its  native  localities. 


GOOSEBERRIES. — Let  those  who  are  accustomed  to  lose 
their  fruit  by  mildew,  drench  their  bushes  with  an  alka- 
line wash.  Lime-water,  or  diluted  lye  are  the  most  conve- 
nient. With  a  watering-pot,  copiously  water  the  whole  bush, 
on  the  upper  and  under  side  of  the  branches  ;  which  can  be 
c  ,i-il  v  done,  if  one  will  lift  the  branches  while  another  be- 
st c  \\  s  the  shower-bath.  After  they  have  done  bearing,  prune 
out  the  head,  and  the  lower  branches,  so  as  to  give  a  free 
circulation  of  air  under  and  through  the  bush.  Spade  in 
about  them  a  liberal  dressing  of  leached  ashes,  and  fine 
charcoal  if  procurable. 


150  PLAIN  AND  PLEASANT  TALK 


GARDEN-WORK    FOR  AUGUST. 

Dahlias  will  require  special  attention  to  secure  them  from 
splitting  down,  and  breaking ;  let  every  part  be  well  sup- 
ported by  ties.  The  cool  nights  and.  warm  days  of 
approaching  fell  will  give  them  their  most  vigorous 
growth. 

SAVING  SEED. — Beet,  spinage,  peas,  celery,  salsify,  let- 
tuce seeds  will  now  be  ripe  and  should  be  gathered.  Even 
if  not  quite  ripe,  they  may  be  plucked,  as  experiments  seem 
to  show  that  seeds  are  more  injured  by  over-ripeness  than 
under-ripening.  Seal  up  your  peas  in  bottles  and  put  wax 
about  the  cork,  according  to  Dr.  Plummer's  directions,  and 
the  larvae  of  the  pea-bug  will  die  for  want  of  air.  Seeds 
are  ripened  best  in  their  own  pods  or  receptacles ;  and 
where  they  ripen  nearly  at  the  same  time,  and  do  not  easily 
shake  out,  we  hang  the  whole  plant  in  an  airy  shed,  barn, 
etc.,  until  winter ;  and  then,  for  convenience,  thresh  out  and 
pack  up. 

As  fast  as  your  perennial  plants  have  shed  their 
flowers,  let  the  seed  plants  be  destroyed,  unless  you 
wish  to  save  seed,  as  the  ripening  of  seed  exhausts  the 
root. 

Young  peach-trees  should  have  the  side  shoots  cleared 
away  and  one  strong  centre  stem  secured  for  budding  in 
the  fall. 

Onions  may  now  be  gathered.  Let  them  lie  a  day  or  two 
on  the  bed  or  in  the  alley,  and  then  be  transferred  to  a  cool 
and  airy  place.  The  sets  for  top  onions  may  be  tied  in  bun- 
dles and  hung  up  till  spring. 

Where  peas  and  bush  beans  have  been  cleared  away,  tur- 
nips may  be  sowed  for  a  fall  and  winter  crop. 

Spinage  seed  should  be  got  ready  to  be  sown  in  Septem- 
ber, if  you  wish  a  good  supply  of  this  choicest  of  all  spring 
greens. 

Celery  plants  will  begin  to  grow  strongly  in  the  trenches ; 


ABOUT   FRUITS,   FLOWERS   AND  FARMING.  151 

water  with  liquid  manure ;  if  troubled  with  insects,  dust 
with  quick  lime  and  water  with  salt  water.  Above  all 
things  be  careful  in  drawing  in  the  earth  to  keep  it 
out  from  the  heart  of  the  plaiit,  and  let  it  be  done  in  dry 
weather. 


PULLING    OFF    POTATO  BLOSSOMS. 

THE  Boston  Cultivator^  speaking  of  this  process,  says : 
"  As  the  qualities  of  the  potato-ball  or  apple  differ  con- 
siderably from  the  root  or  tuber,  it  may  be  that  the  juices 
destined  to  nourish  tne  balls  will  not,  on  removing  the 
blossoms,  go  to  increase  the  roots.  This  view  is  not  un- 
reasonable." 

We  do  not  suppose  the  theory  to  be,  that  the  sap  tend- 
ing to  the  bloom  and  ball  returns  to  the  root.  But, 
simply,  that  there  will  be  so  much  less  food  to  be  prepared, 
and  therefore  so  much  less  exhaustion  to  the  vegetable 
economy.  It  is  well  known  that  the  filling  out  and  ripen- 
ing of  seeds  is  eminently  exhausting  to  the  plant.  It  has 
long  been  the  custom  of  florists  who  wish  show-flowers,  to 
refuse  their  bulbous  plants  leave  to  bloom  for  one  season, 
plucking  off  the  bud,  that  they  might  be  so  much  the 
stronger  for  the  next  year's  blooming. 

But  we  suppose  the  truth  to  be  this.  The  sap  is  pre- 
pared in  the  leaf  and  enters  the  distributing  vessels  of  the 
]>l:int.  It  is  conveyed  to  every  organ  ;  each  part,  receiving 
its  portion,  modifies  it  by  a  farther  chemical  action  pecu- 
liar to  itself.  Thus  in  the  case  of  an  apple-tree.  The 
elaborated  sap  which  goes  to  the  leaf,  the  alburnum,  the 
liber,  the  blossom,  the  fruit  is  the  same  in  all ;  but  the  fruit 
gives  it  a  still  further  elaboration,  by  which  it  imparts  the 
peculiar  properties  belonging  to  it,  in  distinction  from  the 


152  PLAIN  AND  PLEASANT  TALK 

tissues ;  so  of  the  bark,  the  blossom,  etc.  If,  then,  the  seed- 
vessels  are  removed,  so  much  less  elaborated  sap  is  con- 
sumed as  they  would  have  required ;  and  this,  or  at  least, 
portions  of  it,  are  given  to  the  other  parts  of  the  vegetable 
economy. 


BLADING    AND    TOPPING    CORN. 

No  one  performs  these  operations  for  the  benefit  of  the 
ear,  but  to  obtain  fodder,  and  it  is  then  justified  on  the 
ground  that  the  corn  is  not  harmed  by  it.  The  sap  drawn 
from  the  root  does  not  flow  straight  up  into  the  ear  and 
kernel,  but  into  the  leaves  or  blades.  The  carbonic  acid  of 
the  crude  sap  is  decomposed,  oxygen  is  given  off  and  carbon 
remains  in  the  form  of  starch,  sugar,  gum,  etc.,  etc.,  accord- 
ing to  the  nature  of  the  plant.  When  sap  has  by  exposure 
to  light  undergone  this  change  it  is  said  to  be  elaborated. 

It  is  only  now  that  the  sap,  passing  from  the  upper  side 
of  the  leaf  to  a  set  of  vessels  in  the  under  side,  is  reconveyed 
to  the  stem,  begins  to  descend,  and  is  distributed  to  various 
parts  of  the  plant,  affording  nourishment  to  all.  But  when 
the  fruit  of  every  plant  is  maturing,  it  draws  to  itself  a  large 
part  of  the  prepared  sap,  which,  when  it  has  entered  the 
kernel,  is  still  farther  elaborated,  and  made  to  produce  the 
peculiar  qualities  of  the  fruit,  whether  corn  or  wheat,  apple 
or  pear.  It  is  plain  from  this  explanation  that  a  plant 
stripped  of  its  leaves  is  like  a  chemist  robbed  of  his  labora- 
tory, or  like  a  man  without  lungs. 

If  corn  is  needed  for  fodder,  let  it  be  cut  close  to  the 
ground  when  the  corn  has  glazed.  The  grain  will  go  on 
ripening  and  be  as  heavy  and  as  good  as  if  left  to  stand,  and 
the  stalk  will  afford  excellent  food  for  cattle.  Shci-p  arc 
fond  of  corn  thus  cured,  and  will  winter  very  well  upon  it. 
In  husking  out  the  corn,  the  husk  should  be  left  on  the  stalk 
for  fodder. 


ABOUT   FRUITS,    FLOWERS   AND   FARMING.  153 


MAPLE. SUGAR. 

As  most  persons  who  have  not  informed  themselves  on 
the  subject,  imagine  that  we  are  indebted  to  cane-sugar  for 
our  main  supply,  and  that  maple-sugar  is  a  petty  neighbor- 
hood matter,  not  worth  the  figures  employed  to  represent 
it,  \ve  propose  to  spend  some  space  in  stating  the  truth  on 
this  matter.  We  will  exhibit,  1,  the  amount  produced;  2, 
the  proper  way  of  manufacturing  it ;  3,  the  proper  treat- 
ment of  sugar-tree  groves. 

We  shall  confine  our  statistics  to  the  most  important 
Northern  and  Western  States. 

1.  New  York  produces  annually 10,048,109  Ibs. 

2.  Ohio 6,363,386  " 

3.  Vermont 4,647,934  " 

4.  Indiana 3,727,795  " 

5.  Pennsylvania 2,265,755  " 

6.  New  Hampshire 1,162,368  " 

7.  Virginia 1,541,833  " 

S.Kentucky 1,377,835  " 

9.  Michigan 1,329,784  " 


Total  of  nine  States 22,464,799     " 

Residue  thus — add  for  Maine,  Massachusetts, 
Connecticut,  Maryland,  Tennessee,  Illinois, 
Iowa,  Missouri  and  Wisconsin 2,030,853  " 


24,495,652     " 

Something  should  be  subtracted  for  beet-root  and  corn- 
stalk-sugar. But  on  the  other  hand,  the  statistics  are  so 
inurh  below  the  truth  on  maple-sugar,  that  the  deficiency 
may  be  set  off  against  beet-root  and  cornstalk-sugar.  That 
the-  figures  do  not  more  than  represent  the  amount  of 
maple-sugar  produced  in  these  States  may  be  presumed 
from  one  case.  Indiana  is  set  down  at  3, 727, 795;  but  in 
the  four  counties  of  Washington,  Warrick,  Posey  and  Har- 
rison,  no  account  seems  to  have  been  taken  of  this  article. 

7* 


154  PLAIN    AND  PLEASANT  TALK 

In  Mur'mn  county,  four  of  the  first  sugar-making  townships, 
Warren,  Lawrence,  Centre  and  Franklin,  are  not  reckoned. 
If  wr  suppose  these  four  townships  to  average  as  much  as 
the  others  in  Marion  county,  they  produced  77,648  Ibs., 
and  instead  of  putting  Marion  county  down  at  97,064  it 
should  be  174,712  Ibs.  It  is  apparent  from  this  case,  that 
in  Indiana  the  estimate  is  far  below  the  truth ;  and  if  it  is 
half  as  much  so  in  the  other  eight  States  enumerated,* 
then  22,464,799  is  not  more  than  a  fair  expression  of  the 
maple-sugar  alone. 

Lousiana  is  the  first  sugar-growing  State  in  the  Union. 
Her  produce,  by  the  statistics  of  1840,  was  119,947,720,  or 
nearly  one  hundred  and  twenty  million  pounds.  The  States 
of  Mississippi,  Alabama,  Georgia,  South  Carolina  and  Flo- 
rida, together,  add  only  645,281  pounds  more. 

Cane-sugar  in  the  United  States  120,593,001  Ibs. 
Maple  "  "  "  24,495,652     " 

Thus  about  one-sixth  of  the  sugar  made  annually  in  the 
United  States  is  made  from  the  maple-tree.f  It  is  to  be 

*  Dr.  J.  C.  Jackson  puts  Vermont  at  6,000,000  Ibs.  per  annum,  while 
the  census  only  gives  about  4,000,000. 

f  The  data  of  these  calculations,  it  must  be  confessed,  are  very  uncer- 
tain, and  conclusions  drawn  from  them  as  to  the  relative  amounts  of 
sugai  produced  in  different  States,  are  to  be  regarded,  at  the  very  best, 
as  problematical.  We  extract  the  following  remarks  from  an  article  in 
the  Western  Literary  Journal,  from  the  pen  of  Charles  Cist,  an  able  sta- 
tistical writer : 

"  It  is  not  my  purpose  to  go  into^an  extended  notice  of  the  errors  in  the 
statistics  connected  with  the  census  of  1840.  A  few  examples  will  serve  to 
show  their  character  and  extent.  In  the  article  of  hemp,  Ohio  is  stated  to 
produce  9,080  tons,  and  Indiana  8,605 — either  equal  nearly  to  the  pro- 
duct of  Kentucky,  which  is  reported  at  9,992  tons,  and  almost  equal,  when 
united,  to  Missouri,  to  which  18,010  tons  are  given  as  the  aggregate. 
Virginia  is  stated  to  raise  25,594  tons,  almost  equal  to  botli  Kentucky 
and  Missouri,  which  are  given  as  above  at  28,002  tons.  Now  the  indis- 
putable fact  is,  that  Kentucky  and  Missouri  prodilce  more  than  hemp  all 
the  rest  of  the  United  States,  and  ten  times  as  much  as  either  Ohio,  Indiana 


ABOUT   FRUITS,    FLOWERS    AND   FARMING.  155 

remembered  too  that  in  Louisiana  it  is  the  staple,  while  at 
the  North  maple-sugar  has  never  been  manufactured  with 
any  considerable  skill,  or  regarded  as  a  regular  crop,  but 
only  a  temporary  device  of  economy.  Now  it  only  needs  to 
be  understood  that  maple-sugar  may  be  made  so  as  to  have 
the  flavor  of  the  best  cane-sugar,  and  that  it  may,  at  a  tri- 
fling expense,  be  refined  to  white  sugar,  and  the  manufac- 
ture of  it  will  become  more  general,  more  skillful,  and 
may,  in  a  little  time,  entirely  supersede  the  necessity  of  im- 
porting cane-sugar.  Indiana  stands  fourth  in  the  rank  of 
maple-sugar  making  States.  Her  annual  product  is  at  least 
four  million  pounds,  which,  at  six  cents  the  pound  amounts 
to  $160,000  per  annum.  A  little  exertion  would  quickly 
run  up  the  annual  value  of  her  home-made  sugar  to  half  a 
million  dollars. 

Maple-sugar  now  only  brings  about  two-thirds  the  price 

or  Virginia,  which  three  States  are  made  to  raise  60  per  centum  more 
than  those  two  great  hemp-producing  States. 

"  The  sugar  of  Louisiana  is  given  at  119,947,720  Ibs.,  equal  to  120,000 
hhds.,  160  per  cent,  more  than  has  been  published  in  New  Orleans,  as  the 
highest  product  of  the  five  consecutive  years,  including  and  preceding 
1840. 

"  But  what  is  this  to  the  wholesale  figure-dealing  which  returns 
3,^60,949  tons  of  hay,  as  the  product  of  New  York  for  that  article!  a 
quantity  sufficient  to  winter  all  the  horses  and  mules  in  the  United  States. 

"  Other  errors  of  great  magnitude  might  be  pointed  out ;  such  as 
making  the  tobacco  product  of  Virginia  11,000  hhds.,  when  her  inspec- 
tion records  show  55,000  hhds.,  thrown  into  market  as  the  crop  of  that 
year.  Who  believes  that  12,233  Ibs.  pitch,  rosin  and  turpentine,  or  the 
tenth  part  of  that  quantity,  were  manufactured  in  Louisiana  in  1840,  or 
that  New  York  produced  10,093,991  Ibs.  maple-sugar  in  a  single  year,  or 
twenty  such  statements  equally  absurd,  which  I  might  take  from  the 
returns  ?" 

Mr.  Cist  will  find  in  the  appendix  to  Dr.  Jackson's  Final  Report  on  tho 
Geology  of  New  Hampshire,  a  statement,  that  Vermont  makes  6,000,000 
poun.Is  of  sugar  annually.  If  this  be  so,  we  may,  without  extravagance, 
suppose  that  New  York  reaches  10,000,000  Ibs.  So  far  as  we  have  colla- 
teral means  of  judging,  the  amount  of  maple-sugar  is  wwfcr-stated  in  tho 
census  of  1840. 


156  PLAIN   AND   PLEASANT   TALK 

of  New  Orleans.  The  fault  is  in  the  manufacturing  of  it. 
The  saccharine  principle  of  the  cane  and  tree  are  exactly 
the  same.  If  the  same  care  were  employed  in  their  man- 
facture  they  would  be  indistinguishable;  and  maple-su«rar 
would  be  as  salable  as  New  Orleans,  and  if  afforded  at  a 
•rice,  might  supplant  it  in  the  market.  The  average 
quantity  of  sugar  consumed  in  England  by  each  individual 
is  about  thirty  pounds  per  annum. 

MAPLE-SUGAR  MAKING. — Greater  care  must  be  taken 
in  collecting  the  sap.  Old,  and  half-decayed  wooden- 
troughs,  with  a  liberal  infusion  of  leaves,  dirt,  etc.,  impart 
great  impurity  to  the  water.  Rain-water,  decayed  vegeta- 
ble matter,  etc.,  add  chemical  ingredients  to  the  sap,  trou- 
blesome to  extract,  and  injuring  the  quality  if  not  removed. 
The  expense  of  clean  vessels  may  be  a  little  more,  but  with 
care,  it  could  be  more  than  made  up  in  the  quality  of  the 
sugar.  Many  are  now  using  earthen-crocks.  These  are 
cheap,  easily  cleaned,  and  every  way  desirable,  with  tho 
single  exception  of  breakage.  But  if  wood-troughs  are 
used,  let  them  be  kept  scrupulously  clean. 

The  kettles  should  be  scoured  thoroughly  before  use, 
and  kept  constantly  clean.  If  rusty,  or  foul,  or  coated  with 
burnt  sugar,  neither  the  color  nor  flavor  can  be  perfect. 
Vinegar  and  sand  have  been  used  by  experienced  sugar- 
makers  to  scour  the  kettles  with.  It  is  best  to  have,  at 
least,  three  to  a  range. 

All  vegetable  juices  contain  acids,  and  acids  resist  the 
process  of  crystallization. 

Dr.  J.  C.  Jackson*  directs  the  one-measured  ounce  (one- 
fourth  of  a  gill)  of  pure  lime-water  to  be  added  to  every 
gallon  of  sap.  This  neutralizes  the  acid,  and  not  only  faci- 
litates the  granulation,  but  gives  sugar  in  a  free  state,  now 
too  generally  acid  and  deliquescent,  besides  being  charged 

*  Appendix  to  final  Report  on  the  Geology  and  Mineralogy  of  New 
Hampshire,  page  361.  This  admirable  Report  is  an  able  exposition  of 
the  benefit  of  public  State  surveys. 


ABOUT  FBUITS,    FLOWEttS   AND   FARMING.  157 

with  salts  of  the  oxide  of  iron,  insomuch  that  it  ordinarily 
strikes  a  black  color  with  tea. 

The  process  of  making  a  pure  white  sugar  is  simple  and 
i M u-x pensive.  The  lime  added  to  the  sap,  combining  with 
the  peculiar  acid  of  the  maple,  forms  a  neutral  salt ;  this 
salt  is  found  to  be  easily  soluble  in  alcohol.  Dr.  Jackson 
recommends  the  following  process.  Procure  sheet-iron 
cones,  with  an  aperture  at  the  small  end  or  apex — let 
them  be  coated  with  white-lead  and  boiled  linseed-oil,  and 
thoroughly  dried,  so  that  no  part  can  come  off.  [We  do 
not  know  why  earthen  cones,  unglazed  and  painted,  would 
not  answer  equally  well,  besides  being  much  cheaper.] 
Let  the  sugar  be  put  into  these  cones,  stopping  the  hole  in 
the  lower  end  until  it  is  entirely  cool.  Then  remove  the 
stopper,  and  pour  upon  the  base  a  quantity  of  strong 
whisky  or  fourth-proof  rum  *— allow  this  to  filtrate  through 
until  the  sugar  is  white.  When  the  loaf  is  dried  it  will  be 
pure  white  sugar,  with  the  exception  of  the  alcohol.  To 
get  rid  of  this,  dissolve  the  sugar  in  pure  boiling  hot-water, 
and  let  it  evaporate  until  it  is  dense  enough  to  crystallize. 
Tlu MI  put  it  again  into  the  cone-moulds  and  let  it  harden. 
The  dribblets  which  come  away  from  the  cone  while  the 
whisky  is  draining,  may  be  used  for  making  vinegar.  It 
is  sometimes  the  case  that  whisky  would,  if  freely  used  in 
a  sugar  camp,  go  off  in  a  wrong  direction,  benefiting  neither 
the  sugar  nor  the  sugar-maker.  If,  on  this  account,  any 
prefer  another  mode,  let  them  make  a  saturated  solution 
of  loaf-sugar,  and  pour  it  in  place  of  the  whisky  upon  the 
base  of  the  cones.  Although  the  sugar  will  not  be  quite 
as  white,  the  drawings  will  form  an  excellent  molasses, 
whereas  the  drainings  by  the  former  method  are  good  only 
for  vinegar. 


*  If  those  who  drink  whisky  would  pour  it  on  to  the  sugar  in  the  refin- 
ing cones,  instead  of  upon  sugar  in  tumblers,  it  would  refine  them  as 
much  as  it  does  the  sugar ;  performing  tiro  valuable  processes  at  once. 


158  PLAIN   AND  PLEASANT  TALK 

CARE  OP  SUGAR  ORCHARDS. — It  is  grievous  to  witness 
tin-  waste  committed  upon  valuable  groves  of  sugar-trees. 
It*  tin*  special  object  was  to  destroy  them,  it  could  hardly 
be  better  reached  than  by  the  methods  now  employed. 
The  holes  are  carelessly  made,  and  often  the  abominable 
practice  is  seen  of  cutting  channels  in  the  tree  with  an  axe. 
The  man  who  will  murder  his  trees  in  this  tomahawk  and 
scalping-knife  manner,  is  just  the  man  that  .^Esop  meant 
when  he  made  the  fable  of  a  fellow  who  killed  his  goose  to 
get  ai  once  all  the  golden  eggs.  With  good  care,  and 
•flowing  them  occasionally  a  year  of  rest,  a  sugar-grove 
may  last  for  centuries. 

As  soon  as  possible  get  your  sugar-tree  grove  laid 
down  to  grass,  clear  out  underbrush,  thin  out  timber  and 
useless  trees.  Trees  in  open  land  make  about  six  pounds 
of  sugar,  and  forest  trees  only  about  four  pounds  to  the 
season.  As  the  maple  is  peculiarly  rich  in  potash  (four- 
fifths  of  potash  exported  is  made  from  sugar-maple),  it  is 
evident  that  it  requires  that  substance  in  the  soil.  Upon 
this  account  we  should  advise  a  liberal  use  of  wood-ashes 
upon  the  soil  of  sugar-groves. 

TAPPING  TREES. — Two  taps  are  usually  enough — never 
more  than  three.  For  though  as  many  as  twenty-four  have 
been  inserted  at  once  without  killing  the  tree,  regard  ought 
to  be  had  to  the  use  of  the  tree  through  a  long  series  of 
years.  At  first  bore  about  two  inches  ;  after  ten  or  twelve 
days  remove  the  tap  and  go  one  or  two  inches  deeper. 
By  this  method  more  sap  will  be  obtained  than  by  going 
down  to  the  colored  wood  at  first.  We  state  upon  the 
authority  of  William  Tripure,  a  Shaker  of  Canterbury,  N.  H., 
that  about  seven  pounds  of  sugar  may  be  made  from  a 
barrel  of  twenty  gallons,  or  four  pounds  the  tree  for  forest 
trees;  and  two  men  and  one  boy  will  tend  a  thousand  trees, 
making  4,000  pounds  of  sugar. 

We  would  recommend  the  setting  of  pasture-lands, 
and  road-sides  of  the  farm  with  sugar-maple  trees.  Their 


1POUT  FEUTTS,   FLOWEES   AND   FARMING.  150 

growth  is  rapid,  and  no  tree  combines  more  valuable  pro- 
parties.  It  is  a  beautiful  shade-tree,  it  is  excellent  for  fuel, 
it  is  much  used  for  manufacturing  purposes,  its  ashes  are 
valuable  for  potash,  and  its  sap  is  rich  in  sugar.  There  are 
twenty-seven  species  of  the  maple  known,  twelve  of  them 
are  indigenous  to  this  continent.  All  of  these  have  a  sacha- 
rine  sap,  but  only  two,  to  a  degree  sufficient  for  practical 
purposes,  viz.,  Acer  saccharinum  or  the  common  sugar- 
maple,  and  Acer  nigrum  or  the  black  sugar-maple.  The  sap 
of  these  contains  about  half  as  much  sugar  as  the  juice  of 
the  sugar-cane.  One  gallon  of  pasture  maple  sap  contains, 
on  an  average,  3,451  grains  of  sugar ;  and  one  gallon  of 
caiu'-juiee  (in  Jamaica),  averages  7,000  grams  of  sugar. 

But  the  cane  is  subject  to  the  necessity  of  annual  and 
careful  cultivation,  and  its  manufacture  is  comparatively 
expensive  and  difficult.  Whereas  the  maple  is  a  permanent 
tree,  requires  no  cultivation,  may  be  raised  on  the  borders 
of  farms  without  taking  up  ground,  and  its  sap  is  easily  con- 
vertible into  sugar,  and,  if  carefully  made,  into  sugar  as 
good  as  cane-sugar  can  be.  Add  to  the  above  considera- 
tions that  the  sugar-making  period  is  a  time  of  comparative 
leisure  with  the  farmer,  and  the  motives  for  attention  to  this 
subject  of  domestic  sugar-making  seem  to  be  complete. 


LETTUCE. — Those  who  wish  fine  head  lettuce  should  pre- 
pare a  rich,  mellow  bed  of  light  soil ;  tough  and  compact 
soil  will  not  give  them  any  growth.  In  transplanting,  let 
there  be  at  least  one  foot  between  each  plant.  Stir  the 
ground  often.  If  it  is  very  dry  weather,  water  at  evening 
copiously,  if  you  wati-r  at  all;  buj;  the  hoe  is  the  only 
watering-pot  for  a  garden,  if  thereby  the  soil  is  kept  loose 
and  fine.  We  have  raised  heads  nearly  as  large  as  a  drum- 
head cabbage  by  this  method,  very  brittle,  sweet  and  tender 
withal. 


100  PLAIN   AND  PLEASANT  TALK 


GEOLOGICAL    DEFINITIONS. 

MANY  terms,  in  general  use  among  scientific  men,  and 
usually  employed  in  agricultural  works,  are  obscure  to 
young  readers.  For  their  sakes  we  will  explain  some  of 
them ;  and  shall  not  be  angry  if  old  men  profit  by  the 
explanation. 

SOIL. — The  surface-earth,  of  whatever  ingredients  it  may 
be  composed.  It  may  be  a  clay-soil,  a  sand-soil,  a  calcareous 
soil,  as  the  surface  is  composed  of  clay,  or  sand,  or  clay 
strongly  mixed  with  lime,  etc. 

SUBSOIL. — The  earth  lying  below  the  ordinary  depth  to 
which  the  plow  or  spade  penetrate.  Sometimes  it  has 
hardened  by  the  running  of  the  plow  over  it  for  a  series 
of  years ;  then  it  is  called  pan,  as  hard-pan,  clay-pan,  etc. 
It  is  sometimes  of  the  same  nature  as  the  top-soil,  as  in  clay- 
lands  ;  in  others  it  is  a  different  earth ;  as  when  a  coarse 
gravel  underlies  vegetable  mold,  or  when  clay  lies 
beneath  sandy  soil. 

SUBSOIL  PLOWING. — In  ordinary  plowing,  the  share  runs 
from  five  to  seven  inches  deep.  A  plow  has  been  con- 
structed (called  subsoil  plow),  to  follow  in  the  furrow,  and 
break  up  from  six  to  eight  inches  deeper — so  that  the 
whole  plowing  penetrates  from  ten  to  sixteen  inches. 

SUBSOIL  PLOW. — A  plow  having  a  narrow  "  double  share, 
or  a  small  share  on  each  side  of  the  coulter,  and  no  mold- 
board."  It  is  designed  to  break  up  and  soften  the  subsoil, 
but  not  to  bring  it  up  to  the  top. 

MOLD. — A  soil  in  which  decayed  vegetable  matter 
largely  predominates  over  earths.  Thus,  leaf-mold  is  soil 
principally  composed  of  rotten  leaves;  dung-mold,  of 
dung  reduced  to  a  fine  powdery  matter;  heath-mold,  a 
black  vegetable  soil  found  in  heath-lands;  peat-mold, 
forest-mold,  garden-mold,  etc. 

LOAM. — Clay,  or  any  of  the  primitive  earths,  reduced  to 
a  mellow,  friable  state  by  intermixture  of  sand,  or  vegeta- 


ABOUT  FRUITS,   FLO  WEES   AND   FARMING.  161 

ble  matter,  is  called  loam.  Clay  lands  well  manured  with 
*;unl,  dung,  or  muck,  are  turned,  gradually,  to  a  loam. 

ARGILLACEOUS. — From  the  Latin  (argittaceusj)  soil  prin- 
cipally composed  of  clay. 

ALUMINA  OR  ALUMINE. — Generally  employed  to  signify 
pure  clay.  It  is,  chemically  speaking,  a  metallic  oxide ; 
aluminium  is  the  metallic  base,  and  is  an  elementary  sub- 
stance. 

It  is  generally  known  that  the  diamond  is  pure  carbon 
(charcoal  is  carbon  hi  an  impure  state),  but  it  is  not  as 
generally  known  that  the  ruby  and  the  sapphire,  "  two  of 
the  most  beautiful  gems  with  which  we  are  acquainted,  are 
composed  almost  solely  of  alumina,"  or  pure  clay  in  a  crys- 
tallized state. 

SILICIOUS. — An  earth  composed  largely  of  silex.  Silex  or 
silica  is  considered  to  be  a  primitive  earth  constituting  flint, 
and  containing  most  kinds  of  sands,  and  sandstones,  etc. 
China  or  porcelain,  ware  is  formed  from  silica  and  alumina 
united,  i.  e.  from  silicious  sand  and  clay. 

CALCAREOUS. — A  soil  into  the  composition  of  which  lime 
enters  largely.  Limestone  lands  are  calcareous.  Pure 
clay  manured  freely  with  marl  becomes  calcareous,  for  marl 
is,  mostly,  clay  and  carbonate  of  lime. 

ALLUVIAL. — Strictly  speaking,  alluvium  or  our  alluvial 
soil,  is  a  soil  formed  by  causes  yet  in  existence.  Thus  a 
bottom-land  is  formed  by  the  wash  of  a  river.  It  is  usually 
a  mixture  of  decayed  vegetable  matter  and  sand. 

DILUVIAL. — A  diluvial  soil  or  deposit  is  one  formed  by 
cause's  no  longer  hi  existence.  Thus  a  deposit  by  a  deluge 
is  termed  diluvial.  The  word  is  derived  from  the  Latin 
(diluvium),  signifying  a  deluge. 

The  terms  argillaceous,  calcareous,  silicious,  alluvial  and 
diluvial  are  constantly  employed  in  all  works  which  treat  of 
husbandry. 

FRIABLE. — A  friable  soil  is  one  which  crumbles  easily. 
Clay  is  adhesive,  or  in  common  language  clammy:  leaf- 


162  PLAIN  AND   PLEASANT  TALK 

mold  ib  friable,  or  crumbling.  Clay  becomes  friable  when, 
by  exposure  to  air  or  frost,  or  by  addition  of  sand,  vegeta- 
ble matter,  etc.,  it  is  thoroughly  mellowed. 


DRAINING    WET   LANDS. 

BEFORE  many  years  there  will  be  thousands  of  acres 
pierced  with  drains.  But  the  inducements  to  it  which 
iii.-ike  it  wise  in  England  and  New  England  do  not  yet, 
generally,  exist  in  the  West.  The  expense  of  draining  one 
acre  would  buy  two.  Many  farmers  have  already  more 
arable  land  than  they  can  till  to  advantage.  Land 
redeemed  from  slough  would  not  pay  for  itself  in  many 
years. 

But  although  a  general  introduction  of  draining  would 
not  be  wise,  there  are  many  cases  hi  which,  to  a  limited 
extent,  it  should  be  practised.  Lands  lying  near  to  cities 
are  sufficiently  valuable,  and  the  market  for  farming  pro- 
ducts sure  enough,  to  justify  the  reclaiming  of  wet  pieces 
of  land.  On  small  farms  of  forty  and  eighty  acres,  sur- 
rounded by  high-priced  lands,  not  easily  procured  for  enlarg- 
ing his  farm  if  the  owner  should  wish  it,  draining  might  be 
employed  with  advantage.  A  man  with  a  small  farm  can 
afford  expenses  for  high  cultivation  which  would  break  a 
large  farmer. 

Some  times  a  large  meadow  or  arable  field  is  marred  by 
a  wet  slash  through  the  middle  of  it ;  a  farmer  would  not 
begrudge  the  labor  of  draining  for  the  sake  of  having  his 
favorite  field  without  a  blemish.  Sometimes  farms  are 
intersected  by  wet  lands,  which  make  the  passage  from  one 
part  of  the  farm  to  another  difficult  at  all  times,  and  almost 
impassable  at  some  seasons  of  the  year.  Draining  might  bo 
resorted  to  in  such  a  case,  not  so  much  for  the  sake  of 
the  land  reclaimed,  as  for  the  convenience  of  the  whole  farm. 


ABOUT  FBUITS,   FLO  WEBS   AND   FAEMING.  163 

We  know  pieces  of  wet,  peaty  meadow  land  lying  close 
by  the  farm-house,  the  only  drawback  to  the  beauty  of  the 
place.  A  good  farmer  would  wish  to  recover  such  a  spot 
for  the  same  reason  that  he  would  prefer  a  handsome  house 
to  a  homely  one — a  fine  horse  over  a  coarse-looking  animal 
— a  sightly  fence,  rather  than  a  clumsy  one.  There  is  much 
strong  land — but  high,  flat,  and  cold — which  is  wet  through 
all  the  spring,  resisting  seed  till  long  after  other  portions  of 
the  farm  are  at  work,  and  which  would,  but  for  this  back- 
wardness, be  regarded  as  the  best  land.  If  without  great 
expense,  such  land  could  be  cured,  few  farmers  would  mind 
the  trouble  or  labor. 

There  are  three  kinds  of  draining  which  may  be  employed 
according  to  circumstances — subsoil-plowing,  furrow-drain- 
ing and  ditch-draining.  When  a  soil  is  underbound  by  a 
compact,  impervious  subsoil,  all  the  rain  or  melting  snow  is 
retained  in  the  soil  until  it  can  exhale  and  evaporate.  For 
the  subsoil  acts  like  a  water-tight  floor,  or  the  bottom  of  a 
tub.  Subsoil-plowing,  by  thoroughly  working  through  this 
under  crust,  gives  a  downward  passage  to  the  moisture ; 
water  sinks  as  it  does  in  sandy  loams.  Nor  will  such  treat- 
ment be  less  useful  to  prevent  the  injury  of  summer  drought ; 
for  the  depth  of  soil  affords  a  harbor  for  roots  from  whence 
they  can  draw  moisture  when  the  top-soil  is  dry  as  ashes. 

But  there  is  a  limit  put  to  this  treatment  by  the  amount 
of  clay  contained  in  the  subsoil.  It  has  been  experiment- 
ally ascertained  in  England)  that  when  the  soil  contains 
as  high  as  forty-three  per  cent,  of  alumina  (clay)  sub- 
soil-plowing is  useless,  because  the  clay  soon  coalesces  and 
is  as  impervious  as  ever.  In  such  cases,  if  the  land  has  a 
slight  inclination  in  any  direction,  furrow-draining  may,  in 
some  measure,  relieve  it.  The  ground  is  marked  out  in 
lands  as  for  sowing  grain  and  plowed  with  back-furrows, 
throwing  the  earth  toward  the  centre.  The  rain  and  snow 
will  run  to  either  side,  and  flow  off  by  the  channels  left 
between  each  strip.  This  treatment  does  not  relieve  the 


164  PLAIN  AND  i  :;  \    \\r  T.VI.K 

land,  to  any  great  extent,  of  water  contained  in  it,  but  acts 
as  a  preventive,  by  carrying  off  the  rain  and  snow  before 
they  are  absorbed. 


O    DEAR!    SHALL    WE    EVER    BE    DONE    LYING  P 

AN  honest  old  gentleman,  in  telling  us  his  troubles,  gave 
great  prominence  to  the  necessity  he  was  frequently  under 
of  disappointing  his  customers,  whose  work  could  not  be 
finished  as  soon  as  he  had  promised.  After  explaining  the 
difficulty,  he  looked  up  with  great  earnestness,  and  ex- 
claimed, "  O  dear  !  shatt  we  ever  be  done  with  this  lying  f» 

We  have  often  wondered  ourselves  whether  such  a  con- 
summation would  ever  take  place.  "  Your  boots  shall  be 
done  on  Saturday  night  without  fail."  Nevertheless,  you 
have  to  go  to  church  with  gaping  shoes  for  want  of  them. 
"  Your  coat  shall  be  sent  home  by  nine  o'clock  on  Satur- 
day night ;"  and  you  get  it,  in  fact,  the  Wednesday  after. 
"  Will  you  lend  me  your  wheel-barrow  ?  I  will  return  it  to- 
night." You  wait  for  it  till  next  week,  and  then  send  for 
it.  My  carpenter  solemnly  agreed  to  finish  my  house  by 
November;  but  it  was  July  before  I  could  get  the  key. 
My  wood  was  to  be  split  on  Saturday  afternoon — enough 
for  the  Sabbath ;  so  it  was — but  I  had  to  do  it.  My 
money  was  to  be  paid  me  the  next  week ;  and  then,  next 
week ;  and  then,  NEXT  week — and  then,  as  soon  as  he 
could  get  it ;  he  did  get  it  and  spent  it ;  and  then  it  should 
be  paid  when  he  got  it  again — he  got  it  again,  and  p:ii<l 
another  debt  because  the  man  treated  him  more  savagely 
than  I  would.  The  strength  laid  out  in  running  for  this 
money,  if  it  had  been  economically  applied  to  labor,  would, 
nearly,  have  earned  the  whole  debt.  The  fellow  never  paid 
me  at  last;  but  Death  came  along,  and  he  paid  him 


ABOUT  FRUITS,    FLOWERS   AND  FARMING.  165 

promptly.  "O  dear!  shall  we  ever  get  done  with  this 
lying  ?"  It  is  one  of  the  few  domestic  manufactures  which 
need  no  protection,  and  flourishes  without  benefit  either  to 
the  producer  or  consumer. 


CARE  OF  STOCK  IN  WINTER. 

PERHAPS  no  better  sign  of  careful  husbandry  can  be  found 
than  in  the  attention  paid  to  brute  animals.  We  always 
expect  a  thriftless  fellow  to  neglect  and  abuse  his  stock. 
When  we  see  them  well  cared  for,  we  always  judge  the 
owner  to  be  a  good  farmer.  Cattle  ranging  out  often 
have  had  good  picking,  and  if  partly  fed  at  the  rack,  will 
come  out  in  the  spring  well-conditioned.  Where  hay  and 
grain  are  a  drug,  we  suppose  that  all  cautions  about  wasting 
them  will  be  laughed  at.  Care  and  economy  are  not  the 
peculiar  features  of  western  farming ;  profusion  and  easi- 
ness are  the  more  characteristic.  But  there  are  some 
points  of  attention  to  which  every  farmer  should  give 
heed. 

CLEANING  THE  STABLE. — When  cattle  lie  out,  this  trouble 
is  saved  in  their  case.  But  it  is  almost  universally  the  prac- 
tice to  let  the  manure  accumulate  in  stables  for  horses  from 
autumn  to  spring,  and  sometimes  from  year  to  year,  until 
its  quantity  compels  its  removal.  This  is  all  well  enough 
for  the  sake  of  the  manure — it  is  sheltered,  and  its  strength 
preserved.  But  it  is  at  the  expense  of  the  horse.  The  con- 
centrated effluvia  is  bad;  and  lying  down  upon  manure, 
night  after  night,  causes  the  skin  to  break  out  in  blotches  ; 
and  sometimes  the  whole  ham  is  affected  so  much  that  the 
hair  comes  off,  and  the  skin  is  inflamed  and  covered  with 
running  sores.  The  ammonia  of  urine  (which  abounds  in 


166  PLAIN   AND  PLEASANT  TALK  ^ 

horse  manure),  is  caustic,  and  acts  upon  the  skin  like  a  blis- 
ter upon  the  human  flesh.  If  Providence  had  ordained  that 
a  sore  should  break  out  on  the  owner,  for  every  one  on  his 
stock  occasioned  by  his  negligence,  animals  would  have 
a  much  better  time  than  they  now  do. 

Cows  WITH  CALF. — Especial  attention  should  be  paid  to 
these.  As  they  grow  heavy,  toward  spring,  they  should 
not  be  chased  by  horses  or  dogs,  or  beaten  by  unmannerly 
boys  and  men.  Their  food  should  be  abundant  and  nutri- 
cious.  A  cow  brought  to  calving  in  spring  in  a  very  thin 
and  lean  condition  will  not  recover  through  the  whole  sum- 
mer, no  matter  how  carefully  tended.  The  cow,  the  calf, 
and  your  own  profit  in  both,  require  that  you  should  bring 
your  cows  to  the  spring  in  first-rate  condition.  If  you  have 
roots,  feed  them ;  but  if  not,  give  a  slop  of  shorts,  meal,  and 
flax-seed  cake.  This  last  ingredient  is  eminently  service- 
able in  laying  on  flesh. 

MILKING  Cows. — Let  them  be  milked  regularly  without 
regard  to  weather.  A  careless  girl  will,  if  not  watched, 
milk  irregularly,  and  what  is  worse,  leave  the  cow  unstript. 
The  morning  work  presses,  or  the  cold  pinches,  or  she  is  in 
haste,  at  night,  to  go  a  visiting,  or  some  one  of  a  hundred 
other  reasons  tempt  her  to  milk  out  the  full  flow,  and  leave 
the  strippings.  A  cow  so  abused  will  be  injured,  in  a  short 
time,  so  much,  that  all  the  care  in  the  world  will  not  bring 
her  back  again. 

See  that  stock  are  treated  with  gentleness  and  patience. 
It  is  a  shame  to  abuse  a  kind  and  docile  animal,  and  it  is 
useless  to  thrash  those  that  are  not  so.  In  either  case,  kind- 
ness is  the  best  policy.  A  man  who  is  brutal  to  cattle  is 
more  of  a  beast  than  they  are.  We  have  seen  many  a  man 
who,  if  he  had  two  more  legs,  would  not  fetch  the  pree  of 
a  stock-hog. 


^  ABOUT  FRUITS,   FLOWERS   AND  FARMING.  167 

DEEP    PLANTING. 

WE  saw  recently  a  potato  which  grew  at  the  depth  of 
twenty-five  feet  below  the  surface  of  the  earth.  This  is  an 
extraordinary  depth.  Few  things  planted  at  that  depth 
would  vegetate.  The  fact  in  this  case  is  unquestionable. 
The  top  was  terminated  by  a  cluster  of  blossoms^  and  the 
potatoes  were  of  the  size  of  small  hickory-nuts. 

P.  S.  Another  fact,  which  like  to  have  been  omitted  in  this 
account,  is,  that  it  grew  at  the  bottom  of  an  open  well. 


CORN   AND   MILLET    FOR   FODDER. 

THE  practice  of  sowing  grains  for  fodder  has  been  prac- 
tised with  great  success.  MILLET  is  sown  in  May,  June,  or 
July,  at  the  rate  of  three  pecks  of  seed  to  the  acre.  It  is, 
usually,  ready  for  the  scythe  in  about  ninety  days.  Thick 
sowing  is  best.  Cut  when  the  grain  is  fairly  out  of  the 
milk,  and  cure  it  like  hay.  Four  tons  is  a  fair  yield — two 
tons  is  a  small  crop. 

INDIAN  CORN  should  be  sown  broadcast  at  the  rate  of 
four  to  five  bushels  to  the  acre.  Corn  belongs  to  the  tribe 
of  grasses.  Cultivating  it  for  the  grain,  in  rows,  with  every 
stimulant  of  air,  light,  and  manure,  develops  the  stalk 
almost  to  a  tree  form.  When  sown  for  fodder,  the  object 
should  be  to  produce  it,  as  nearly  as  possible,  like  a  grass. 
Thick  sowing  will  tend  to  do  it,  and  each  stalk  being  small 
and  tender,  the  crop  will  be  easily  masticated  by  cattle.  By 
good  management  six  or  eight  tons  may  be  cut  to  the  acre 
— cutting  twice  in  the  season.  The  first  mowing  should  be 
about  the  period  of  silking.  The  next,  whenever  the 
shoots  have  grown  again  to  a  proper  size.  If  but  one 
mowing  is  intended,  it  should  be  permitted  to  stand  a  week 


168  PLAIN   AND  PLEASANT  TALK  *. 

or  two  later  than  when  two  crops  are  to  be  taken.  For,  all 
plants  prepare  the  most  of  nutritious  juices  at  the  period  of 
their  fruiting.  Indiap  corn  is  the  richest  in  saccharine 
matter  at  about  the  time  its  grain  is  turning  from  a  milky 
to  a  mealy  state.  Cattle  will  eat  either  of  the  above  grains, 
treated  like  a  grass  crop,  with  great  avidity ;  and  every  one 
knows  that  it  is  desirable  to  give  them  a  change  of  food 
through  the  winter. 


SEED    SAVING. 

THE  seeds  of  cucumber,  melon,  etc.,  are  better,  at  any 
rate,  when  four  of  five  years  old  than  when  fresh  ;  and  wo 
have  well  authenticated  instances  of  seeds  retaining  their 
vitality  much  longer  than  this.  There  is  no  fixed  period 
during  which  seeds  will  'keep.  There  is  no  reason  to  sup- 
pose that  they  would  lose  their  vitality  in  any  assignable 
number  of  years  if  the  proper  conditions  were  observed. 
De  Candolle  says  that  M.  Gerardin  raised  kidney  beans, 
obtained  from  Tournefort's  herbarium,  which  were  at  least 
a  hundred  years  old ;  but  beans  left  to  the  chances  of  the 
atmosphere  are  not  good  the  second  year,  and  hardly  worth 
planting  in  the  third.  Professor  Lindley  raised  raspberry 
plants  from  seed  not  less  than  sixteen  or  seventeen  hundred 
years  old.  Multitudes  of  other  instances  might  be  given. 
In  reply  to  the  first  question,  it  may,  then,  be  said,  that  the 
length  of  time  through  which  seeds  will  keep  depends  upon 
the  method  of  preserving  them. 

We  do  not  suppose  it  to  be  essential  to  inclose  apple, 
pear,  and  quince  seeds  in  earth  for  the  purpose  of  preserv- 
ing their  vitality  during  a  single  winter.  But  if  exposed 
to  the  air,  the  rind  becomes  so  hard  and  rigid  as  to  make 
germination  very  difficult  from  mere  mechanical  rea>«-n<. 
The  moisture  of  the  soil  keeps  the  covering  in  a  tender 


ABOUT  FEUITS,    FLO  WEBS  AND  FAKMING.  169 

state,  and  it  is  easily  ruptured  by  the  expansion  of  tho 
seed. 

The  shell  of  peach,  plum,  and  other  stone-fruit  seeds 
would  form,  if  left  to  dry  and  harden,  a  yet  more  hopeless 
prison.  If  kept  for  two  years,  the  most  stone-fruit  pips, 
it  is  to  bo-  presumed,  would  not  germinate.  Some,  how- 
ever, would  have  vigor  enough  to  grow  even  then.  We 
have  forgotten  who  it  was,  but  believe  it  to  have  been 
a. reliable  person,  recently  mentioned  the  fact,  that  a  peach 
or  apricot  stone  was  for  several  years  kept  as  a  child's  j  KIV 
thing;  but  upon  being  planted,  grew,  and  is  now  a  healtny 
tree.  Such  cases  are,  however,  rare. 

The  intercourse  between  Great  Britain  and  her  distant 
colonies,  and  the  various  expeditions  fitted  out  from  her 
shores  for  purposes  of  botanical  research  and  for  the  acquisi- 
tion of  new  plants  from  distant  regions,  have  made  the  sub- 
ject of  seed-saving  at  sea  a  matter  of  much  experiment. 

In  general,  the  conditions  of  preservation  are  three ;  a 
low  temperature,  dryness,  and  exclusion  of  air.  But  it 
often  happens,  that  all  these  cannot  be  had,  and  then  a 
choice  must  be  made  between  them.  Heat  and  moisture 
will  either  germinate  the  seeds  or  corrupt  them.  In  long 
voyages,  and  in  warm  regions,  moisture  contained  in  the 
seedy  if  in  a  close  bottle,  is  sufficient  to  destroy  the  seed. 
Glass  bottles  have  therefore  been  rejected.  Seeds  for  long 
voyages,  or  for  long  preservation,  are  thoroughly  ripened 
and  thoroughly  dried ;  but  dried  without  raising  the  tempe- 
rature of  the  air,  as  this  would  impair  their  vitality.  They 
are  then  wrapped  in  coarse  paper,  and  put,  loosely,  in  a 
coarse  canvas  bag,  and  hung  up  in  a  cool  and  airy  place. 
In  this  way  seeds  will  be  as  nearly  secure  from  heat  and 
moisture — their  two  worst  enemies — as  may  be.  It  is  pro- 
bable that  some  seeds  have  but  a  short  period  of  vitality 
under  any  circumstances  of  preservation.  Seeds  contain- 
ing much  oil,  are  peculiarly  liable  to  spoil.  Lindley  sug- 
gests that  the  oil  becomes  rancid. 

8 


170  PLAIN  AND   PLEASANT  TALK 

The  preservation  of  seeds  from  one  season  to  another,  for 
home  use,  is  not  difficult,  and  may  be  described  in  throe 
siMitenees:  ripen  them  well,  dry  them  thoroughly,  and 
keep  them  aired  and  cool. 


RHUBARB. 


RHUBARB  or  pie-plant  is  becoming  as  indispensable  to  the 
garden  as  corn,  or  potatoes,  or  tomatoes.  No  family 
should  be  without  it.  It  comes  in  after  winter  apples  are 
gone  and  before  green  apples  come  in  again  for  tarts.  By 
a  little  attention  it  may  be  had  from  the  last  of  jNIaivh 
through  the  whole  summer.  Indeed,  it  may  be  had 
through  the  whole  year.  The  root  contains  within  itself 
all  the  nourishment  required  to  develop  the  leaves  and 
stalks  at  first,  without  any  other  aid  than  warmth  and  mois- 
ture. If  then  it  be  lifted  late  in  the  fall  or  during  open 
weather  in  winter,  and  put  in  large  pots,  nail  kegs,  boxes, 
etc.,  put  in  a  warm  room,  or  cellar,  it  will  soon  send  up  a 
supply  of  leaves.  It  is  not  even  necessary  that  there  should 
be  much  light,  for  the  want  of  it  only  makes  the  stem 
whiter  and  of  a  milder  acid.  The  roots  thus  used  may 
either  be  thrown  away,  or  set  out  again  and  not  used  until 
they  have  recovered,  wrhich  will  be  in  about  one  summer. 

For  early  spring  use,  select  a  wrarm  spot  in  the  garden, 
and  late  in  the  fall  dig  in  around  your  roots  a  good  supply 
of  rotten  manure.  Cover  them  with  coarse  manure,  straw, 
or  litter.  As  soon  as  the  frost  comes  out  of  the  ground, 
knock  out  the  ends  of  a  barrel  and  put  one  over  each  plant 
from  which  you  propose  to  gain  an  early  supply.  Put  a 
quantity  of  coarse  manure  around  the  outside  of  the  bar- 
rel to  maintain  the  warmth,  and,  in  cold  nights  and  during 
cold  rains,  lay  a  board  over  the  open  top.  Thus  treated, 
you  may  have  tarts  in  March.  But  the  main  supply  of  this 


ABOUT   FKUITS,    FLOWERS   AND   FARMING.  171 

wholesome  plant  is  to  arise  from  open  cultivation.  The 
roots  may  be  gained  from  seed  or  from  division  of  old 
roots.  Eastern  writers  recommend  sowing  the  seed  in 
autumn ;  but  in  the  West  spring  sowings  have  vegetated 
much  better  than  an  autumnal  planting.  In  April  sow  the 
seed  in  deep  mellow  and  rich  beds.  Keep  the  plants  free  from 
weeds  and  in  a  growing  state  during  the  summer.  They 
may  require  a  little  shading  during  the  hottest  days  of  sum- 
mer. The  next  spring  we  transplant  them  to  a  trial-bed  ; 
for,  it  is  to  be  remembered,  that  the  seed  does  not  neces- 
sarily give  a  plant  like  its  parent.  Let  them  be  set  two 
feet  apart  every  way,  and  during  the  season  it  can  be  seen 
which  are  the  largest  and  best;  these  are  to  be  raised  in  the 
fall,  divided  and  transplanted,  and  the  rest  thrown  away. 
Out  of  a  hundred  plants,  not  more  than  two  or  three  may 
be  worth  keeping.  In  the  spring  of  1842  we  planted  seed 
obtained  in  New  York,  for  the  Victoria  Rhubarb  (a  new 
kind),  which  had  been  imported  but  a  few  months.  Of 
lilt y  plants  only  three  proved  worth  keeping — one  of  these 
for  its  earliness  and  the  others  for  size. 

When  you  have  secured  roots  from  which  you  wish  to 
form  a  bed  for  your  main  supply,  divide  them  either  in  the 
fall  or  spring  into  as  many  pieces  as  there  are  buds  on  the 
crown,  each  piece  having,  of  course,  a  bud.  The  smallest 
slice  of  root  will  live,  although  a  large  portion  is  preferable. 
Do  not  be  too  timid  in  dividing ;  the  plant  is  exceedingly 
tenacious  of  life — it  can  hardly  be  killed.  We  have  had 
roots  lying  in  the  open  air  for  weeks,  and  when  replanted 
growing  with  nndiminished  vigor.  Every  one  who  has,  for 
a  single  season,  tended  a  garden,  knows  what  dock  is,  and 
how  tenacious  of  life,  so  much  so,  as  to  make  it  quite  a 
trouble.  The  rhubarb  is  a  full-blooded  vegetable  brother, 
belonging  to  the  same  family  of  plants. 

This  plant  thrives  most  luxuriantly  in  a  rich,  sandy  loam; 
tin-  earth  should  be  spaded  and  mellowed  to  at  least  twenty 
inches  depth.  We  prepare  ground  for  it  as  follows  :  Mark 


172  PLAIN  AND   PLEASANT  TALK 

out  the  row  with  a  line,  throw  out  the  top  earth  on  one 
side;  throw  out  a  full  spade  depth  of  subsoil  upon  the 
other  side.  Throw  back  the  top  dirt,  mixing  it  freely 
with  well  rotted  manure.  Now  put  in  the  soil  which  was 
taken  from  the  bottom  of  the  trench;  as  this  is  compara- 
tively poor — mix  it  largely  with  manure.  We  make  rows 
four  feet  apart,  and  set  the  plants  three  feet  apart  in  the 
row.  Very  little  care  is  needed  in  after  cultivation.  The 
large  leaves  will  shade  the  ground  and  check  weeds.  A 
good  supply  of  fresh  manure,  well  dug  in  once  a  year,  will 
keep  the  plants  in  heart  and  health  for  a  long  time. 


PEAS. 


PEAS  should  be  planted  among  the  earliest  of  seeds. 
They  are  a  hardy  vegetable,  and  will  bear  severe  frosts  in 
the  spring  without  injury.  A  light,  sandy  soil  is  the  best. 
If  manured,  let  only  the  most  thoroughly  rotted  be  used, 
Two  sorts  of  peas  are  sufficient  for  all  ordinary  purposes — 
one  early  kind,  and  one  for  the  later  and  main  supply.  The 
number  of  kinds  advertised  by  seedsmen  is  very  great,  and 
every  year  adds  to  the  new  varieties.  Many  of  them  are 
of  little  value,  and  many,  hitherto  esteemed,  are  supplanted 
by  better  ones.  The  Early  Warwick  and  Cedo  Nulli  are 
fine  early  peas,  unsurpassed  till  the  Prince  Albert  appeared. 
This  is  now  esteemed  the  earliest  of  peas,  ripening  at  Boston 
in  fifty-three  days  from  the  time  of  sowing,  and  in  England 
in  forty-two  days.  We  hope  to  be  able,  soon,  to  have  this 
variety  for  distribution.  Early  peas  are  seldom  of  lii-h 
flavor;  none  that  we  ever  raised  are  comparable  to  tin- 
larger  and  later  peas,  and  it  is,  therefore,  except  for  market 
purposes,  not  desirable  to  plant  very  largely  of  early  sorts. 

Of  late  peas  we  have,  after  trying  many  sorts,  fallen  back 


ABOUT   FRUITS,    FLOWEHS    AM>    I  AIIMINC  173 

upon  the  old-fashioned  Marrowfat,  and  now  raise  it  exclu- 
sively. It  will  be  fit  for  the  table  in  from  seventy  to  eighty 
days  after  planting.  KnighVs  tall  marrowfat  is  recom- 
mended in  Hovey's  Magazine  (a  standard  authority),  as  of 
"  delicious  quality  and  producing  throughout  the  whole  sea- 
son." We  have  never  had  an  opportunity  of  proving  it. 

We  prefer  buying  our  seed  to  raising  it.  In  this  region 
the  pea-bug  pierces  every  seed-pea,  and,  although  the  germ 
is  not  usually  destroyed  by  this  depredator,  the  seed  is 
weakened,  and  the  certainty  of  growth  very  much  dimin- 
ished. If  one  must  plant  buggy  peas,  let  them  have  scald- 
ing water  poured  upon  them  and  turned  off  again  imme- 
diately. The  bug  will  be  destroyed  and  the  pea  not  injured. 

When  peas  are  up  they  require  but  one  or  two  hoeings, 
as  they  soon  shade  the  ground  so  as  to  prevent  weeds  from 
growing.  They  should  be  well  supplied  with  brush,  strong- 
ly set  in  the  ground.  When  peas  are  allowed  to  fall  over, 
they  become  mildewed  and  rot.  This  also  happens  when 
the  rows  are  planted  so  near  together  as  to  prevent  free 
circulation  of  air. 

When  large  quantities  of  peas  are  desired  they  should 
be  sown  broad-cast,  at  the  rate  of  about  three  bushels  to 
the  acre — more  rather  than  less.  It  leaves  the  land  in  fine 
tilth,  smothering  all  weeds.  Thirty  bushels  to  the  acre  is 
a  fair  crop ;  but  eighty-four,  and  eighty-eight,  have  been 
taken. 


ONIONS. — Onions  for  seed  should  be 
planted  in  October ;  and,  like  their  more  brilliant,  but  less 
perfumed,  friends  of  the  tulip  and  hyacinth  connections, 
they  will  thoroughly  root  themselves  during  the  autumn 
and  mild  winter  weather,  and  be  ready  for  early  work,  the 
moment  the  frost  rises  from  the  ground. 


174  PLAIN     AND    PI.KAHAVT   TALK 


PLANT   SHADE-TREES. 

WE  would  suggest  to  the  editors  of  newspapers  the  pro- 
priety of  establishing  in  their  columns  a  permanent  agricul- 
tural department.  We  are  much  pleased  to  see  that  many 
excellent  papers  are  doing  it,  and  that  others  insert  occa- 
sional articles.  Great  advantage  cannot  fail  to  accrue  to 
our  town* and  rural  population  by  putting  into  their  hands 
every  week,  able  articles  from  practical  formers  and  gar- 
deners upon  the  various  topics  of  agriculture  and  horticul- 
ture. Let  every  paper  urge  the  setting  out  of  shade-trees 
in  our  villages.  It  is  greatly  to  be  desired,  that  all  our 
towns  should  be  filled  with  elms,  maples,  ashes,  locusts,  etc. 
The  cultivation  of  fruit  may  be  much  encouraged  and  pro- 
moted by  a  frequent  republication  of  articles  on  that  sub- 
ject. The  gardens  and  conservatories  of  a  few  very  wealthy 
gentlemen  do  not  constitute  a  horticultural  community. 
They  are  of  great  use  in  the  procuration  and  cultivation  of 
new  varieties  of  plants,  and  in  testing  important  matters  by 
expensive  experiments.  But  affluent  men  and  their  pleas- 
ure grounds  are  to  horticulture,  what  universities  are  to 
common  schools ;  that  State  is  best  educated  whose  whole 
population  are  the  most  thoroughly  trained ;  and  that  is  tlie 
horticultural  State,  all  of  whose  villages,  towns,  farms,  and 
gardens,  are  in  the  highest  state  of  cultivation. 

Our  desire  is  to  diffuse  a  love  for  rural  affairs,  husbandry, 
and  horticulture  among  the  whole  mass  of  the  community. 


WEEDS  IN  ALLEYS. — It  is  said  that  weeds  may  be  entirely 
destroyed  for  years  by  copious  watering  with  a  solution  of 
lime  and  sulphur  in  boiling-hot  water.  This,  if  effectual, 
will  be  highly  important  to  such  as  have  garden  gravel 
walks,  pavements,  etc.,  through  which  grass  and  weeds 
grow  up. 


ABOUT   FKUITS,    FLOWERS   AND   FARMING.  175 


H  O   T  -  B  E  D  S  . 

AFTER  a  little  practice  any  one  can  make  and  manage  a 
simple  hot-bed.  For  a  common  family  one  twelve  by 
four  feet  will  be  large  enough,  and  nine  by  four  will  answer 
for  a  small  family.  Frame. — The  frame  should  be  made  of 
two-inch  stuff  (pine  or  poplar).  The  back  must  be  as  high 
again  as  the  front,  hi  order  to  give  the  right  inclination  to 
the  sash.  The  ends  should  be  nailed  fast  to  corner  posts, 
say  four  inches  square.  The  back  and  front  are  to  be 
attached  to  those  parts  by  iron  bolts,  which  may  be  screwed 
or  unscrewed  at  pleasure.  The  frame  may  be  taken  to 
pieces,  if  so  made,  and  put  away  during  the  season  it  is  not 
in  use.  A  frame  twelve  by  four,  will  take  four  sash  of 
three  feet  wide,  the  other  sized  frame  will  take  three  sash. 
Where  the  sash  meet,  a  piece  of  wood  three  inches  broad 
and  two  thick,  should  be  let  in  from  back  to  front,  for  the 
sash  to  run  upon,  and  it  may  be  allowed  to  extend  back  for 
two  feet  beyond  the  body  of  the  frame.  Three  coats  of 
paint  should  be  put  on  the  outside  and  inside  of  the 
frame,  and  then,  with  good  care,  it  -will  last  twenty 
years.  Mark  out  the  ground  six  inches  larger  every 
way  than  your  frame.  Dig  it  out  a  foot  deep.  Take  fresh, 
strong  horse-dung.  Shake  it  up  and  mix  it  thoroughly. 
Lay  it  into  the  bed  evenly,  beating  it  down  with  the  back 
of  the  fork,  but  never  treading  it.  Raise  the  bed  three  feet 
above  the  surface,  making  the  thickness  in  all  four  feet.  In 
a  week's  time  this  will  have  settled  six  or  eight  inches. 
AVr  have  for  the  sake  of  a  gentler  and  longer  continued 
heat,  laid  alternate  layers  of  manure  and  tan-bark,  and  thus 
far  it  has  done  well  with  us.  Put  on  the  frame  and  sa-h 
and  let  it  stand  till  the  heat  begins  to  raise,  which  will  be 
two  or  three  days.  Then  raise  the  sash  to  let  the  steam 
pass  off.  In  about  four  days  take  off  the  frame,  put  on 
about  six  inches  of  light,  good  soil,  evenly,  all  over  the 


170  ri.AIN  AND  PLEASANT  TALK 

l»i--l  ;  replace  the  frame,  and  in  a  day  thereafter  it  will  l>o 
ready  for  seed. 

Cal''  fflllflower,  tomatoes,  r^u:  plunls,  peppers, 

,  Cucumbers,  lettuce,  together  with  savory  herb*,  MS 
;  marjoram,  sweet  basil,  thyme,  sage,  lavender,  etc.,  <.tr. 
may  be  sown  in  drills  in  the  soil  prepared  as  above. 

It  is  difficult  to  give,  on  paper,  the  directions  for  the  care 
of  the  bed.  The  greatest  dangers  of  all,  arc  that  of  bum  ///// 
the  plants  by  excessive  heat,  or  of  damping  them  off,  by  too 
little  air.  These  evils  must  be  guarded  against  by  the 
admission  of  as  much  air  as  possible.  In  mild  days  let  the 
sash  be  partly  open  all  day,  and  in  very  cold  days,  endeavor 
to  procure  a  half  hour  even,  at  mid-day,  for  raising  the  sash 
ami  airing  the  plants.  As  they  grow  up,  if  crowded,  they 
should  be  thinned  out,  so  as  not  to  run  up  spindling. 


ORIGINAL    RECIPES. 

WHEN  we  say  original,  we  don't  mean  that  no  one  ever 
employed  the  same  recipes,  but  only  this,  that  we  have 
obtained  them,  not  from  books,  but  from  good  and  skillful 
housewives. 

EPICURE'S  CORN  BREAD. — Upon  two  quarts  of  sifted  corn- 
meal,  pour  just  enough  boiling  water  to  scald  it  thoroughly ; 
if  too  much  water  is  used  it  will  be  heavy.  Stir  it  thoroughly, 
let  it  get  cold ;  then  rub  in  a  piece  of  butter  as  large  as  a 
hen's  egg,  together  with  two  teaspoonfuls  of  fine  salt ;  beat 
four  eggs  thoroughly,  and  they  will  be  all  the  better  if  the 
whites  and  yolks  are-  beaten  separately,  add  them  to  the 
meal  and  mix  thoroughly.  Next,  add  a  pint  of  sour  cn-ain, 
or  butter-milk,  or  sour  milk  (which  stand  ir.  the  order  of 
their  value).  Dissolve  two  tcapoonfuls  of  saleratus  in  hot 
water,  and  stir  it  in.  Put  it  in  buttered  pans  and  bake  it 


ABOUT   FRUITS,    FLOWERS    AXD   FARMING.  177 

Iii  winter,  it  may  be  mixed  over  night  and  in  that  case, 
the  eggs  and  saleratus  should  not  be  put  in  until  morning. 
When  ready  for  the  oven,  the  mixture  ought  to  be  about  as 
thin  as  good  mush,  and  if  not,  more  cream  should  be 
added. 

If  you  are  not  an  epicure  already,  you  will  be  in  danger 
of  becoming  one,  if  you  eat  much  of  this  corn  cake — 
provided  it  is  well  made. 

SUGAR  GINGER-BREAD. — To  three-quarters  of  a  pound  of 
butter  and  not  quite  a  pint  of  finely  rolled  brown  sugar,  add  a 
great  spoonful  of  ginger,  and  a  little  cinnamon  and  nutmeg  ; 
beat  these  up  to  a  foam ;  beat  four  eggs  thoroughly  and 
add  and  mix  well,  with  the  butter  and  sugar.  Add  a  tea- 
cup of  rich  cream,  a  great  spoonful  of  saleratus  dissolved  in 
hot  water.  Stir  in  sifted  flour  as  long  as  it  can  be  worked. 
Pound  and  knead  the  dough  very  thoroughly.  Roll  out 
quite  thin,  cut  into  small  cakes,  bake  in  a  quick  oven.  They 
will  be  hard,  but  tender  and  crisp. 

HOOSIER  BISCUIT. — Add  a  teaspoonful  of  salt  to  a  pint  of 
new  milk,  warm  from  the  cow.  Stir  in  flour  until  it 
becomes  a  stiff  batter ;  add  two  great  spoonfuls  of  lively 
brewer's  yeast ;  put  it  in  a  warm  place  and  let  it  rise  just  as 
much  as  it  will.  "When  well  raised,  stir  in  a  teaspoonful  of 
saleratus  dissolved  in  hot  water.  Beat  up  three  eggs  (two 
will  answer),  stir  with  the  batter,  and  add  flour  until  it 
becomes  tolerable  stiff  dough  ;  knead  it  thoroughly,  set  it 
by  the  fire  until  it  begins  to  rise,  then  roll  out,  cut  to 
biscuit  form,  put  in  pans,  cover  it  over  with  a  thick  cloth, 
set  by  the  fire  until  it  rises  again,  then  bake  in  a  quick 
oven.  If  well  made,  no  directions  will  be  needed  for 
eating. 

As  all  families  are  not  provided  with  scales  and  weights, 
referring  to  the  ingredients  generally  used  in  cakes  and 
pastry,  we  subjoin  a  list  of  weights  and  measures. 


8* 


178 


PLAIN   AXD   PLEASANT   TALK 


.WEIGHT     AND      MEASURE. 


Wheat  flour 
Indian  meal 
Butter,  when  soft 
Loaf-sugar,  broken, 
White  sugar,  powdered, 
Best  brown  sugar 


one  pound 

one  pound  two  ounces, 

one  pound  one  ounce, 

one  pound 

one  pound  one  ounce, 

one  pound  two  ounces, 

ten  eggs 


is  one  quark 
is  one  quart 
is  one  quart, 
is  one  qiurt. 
is  one  quart. 
is  one  quart, 
are  one  pound. 


LIQUID  MEASURE 

Sixteen  large  tablespoonfuls  are 

Eight  large  tablespoonfuls  are 

Four  large  tablespoonfuls  are 
A  common  sized  lumber  holds 
A  common  sized  wine  glass  holds 


half  a  pint 
one  gill, 
half  a  gill, 
half  a  pint. 
half  a  gill. 


Allowing  for  accidental  differences  in  the  quality,  fresh- 
ness, dryness,  and  moisture  of  the  articles,  we  believe  this 
comparison  between  weight  and  measure  to  be  as  nearly 
correct  as  possible. 


COOKING    VEGETABLES 

WHILE  we  believe  meat  to  be  necessary  to  laboring  men, 
we  are  equally  sure  that  it  is  used  to  excess ;  for  persons  of 
a  sedentary  habit,  vegetable  diet  is  supposed  to  be  much 
more  wholesome,  because  much  less  stimulating  than  meat. 
Whatever  shall  make  vegetables  more  relish ful  will 
extend  their  popular  use,  and  therefore  any  simple  recipe 
for  cooking  them  is  a  public  good.  The  following  are 
taken  fresh  from  the  kitchen,  and  we  will  vouch  for  their 
being  good,  although  there  may  be  other  ways  still  better. 

1.  GREENS. — The  articles  employed  for  greens  arc  numer- 
ous; we  merely  mention  the  following: — sprouts  of  turnip 


ABOUT   FKUITS,    FLOWERS   AND    FARMING.  179 

and  cabbage,  dandelions,  lamb's  quqgjters,  red-rooted 
plantain,  cowslip,  wild  pepper-grass,  purslain,  young  beet- 
tops,  lettuce,  and  spinage — the  best  of  all  greens. 

In  gathering  plantain,  care  must  be  taken  to  select  only 
the  red-rooted,  the  white  being  thought  poisonous.  With 
the  exception  of  spinage,  all  these  should  be  boiled  in  salted 
water,  or  in  water  with  a  piece  of  salt  pork,  for  half  an  hour, 
then  taken  out,  drained,  and  served  up  with  butter  gravy. 

Spinage  is  boiled,  as  above,  for  half  an  hour,  then  taken 
out,  thoroughly  drained,  put  into  a  skillet  with  cream,  butter 
and  pepper,  and  if  need  be,  a  little  more  salt.  Place  it  over 
the  fire  and  stir  it  up  with  a  knife  all  the  time  it  simmers, 
until  it  becomes  a  paste.  About  five  minutes  are  enough 
for  this  last  process — then  dish  and  serve  it. 

2.  ASPARAGUS. — Asparagus  should  never  be  cut  below  the 
surface  of  the  ground,  although  books  and  papers,  almost 
universally,  direct  to  the  contrary.     The  white  part  of  the 
stem  is  always  tough  and  inedible.     Let  it;  spring  up  about 
six  or  eight  inches  and  then  cut  it  at  the  surface  of  the 
ground.     Lay  it  in  the  pan  or  kettle  in  which  it  is  to  be 
cooked,  and  sprinkle  salt  over  it.     Pour  boiling  water  over 
it,  until  it  is  just  covered ;  boil  from  fifteen  to  twenty-five 
minutes,  according  to  the  age  of  the  asparagus.     Have  two 
or  three  nicely  toasted  slices  of  bread  in  the  dish  which  is 
to  go  to  the  table ;  lay  the  asparagus  upon  the  toast,  putting 
first  sweet  butter  and  pepper  upon  it  according  to  your 
taste ;  lastly  pour  over  it  the  liquor  in  which  it  was  boiled. 
Many  throw  away  the  water  in  which  it  was  cooked  and 
substitute  cream  and  butter,  but  thereby  the  finest  flavor 
of  the  vegetable  is  thrown  away  and  lost. 

3.  BEETS. — While  young,  beets  may  be  boiled  tops  and 
all ;  as  the  tops  get  tough  the  root  alone  is  boiled  in  salted 
water  until  tender,  viz.  from  three-quarters   of  an  hour  to 
an  hour  and  a  half,  according   to   the   size   of  the  beet. 
Quarter  or  slice  them  if  large,  and  add  fresh  sweet  butter 
and  pepper. 


ISO  PLAIN     AND     I'l.K  \-\\T    TALK 

4.  PEAJS. — Xo^-ei:etal>le  depends  more  for  its  excellence 
upon  good  COokiiiLT  than  peas.      Have  tin-in  freshly  gathered 
and  shelled,  l»t  never  wash  tliem.     If  they  arc  n«>t  per- 
fectly clean,  roll  them  in  a  dry  cloth;  but  even  this  is  sel- 
dom required,  and  then  only  through  carelessness.     P«mr 
them  dry  into  the  cooking  dish,  and  put  as  much  salt  OY6T 
them  as  is  required,  then  pour  on  boiling  water  enough  to 
cover  them ;  boil  them  fifteen  minutes  if  they  are  young ; 
no  pea  is  fit  to  cook  which  requires  more  than  half  an  hour's 
boiling.    When  done,  put  to  a  quart  of  peas  three  great  table- 
Bpoonfuls  of  butter,  and  pepper  to  your  taste.     Put  all  the 
water  to  them  in  which  they  were  boiled.     The  great  mis- 
takes in  cooking  peas  are  in  cooking  too  long,  and  in  de- 
luging them  with  water. 

STRING  or  SNAP  beans  are  cooked  like  peas,  only  they 
require  longer  boiling. 

5.  CORN  should  be  boiled  in  salted  water  from  twenty 
to  thirty  minutes,  according  to  its  age  ;  if  boiled  longer  it 
becomes  hard  and  loses  its  flavor.     We  have  given  in  the 

Western  Farmer  and  Gardener,  p.  231,  a  recipe  for  corn 
and  beans,  but  as  all  may  not  see  that  periodical,  we  extract 
the  substance  of  it. 

We  give  directions  for  a  mess  sufficient  for  a  family  of 
six  or  seven. 

To  about  half  a  pound  of  salt  pork  put  three  quarts  of 
cold  water ;  let  it  boil.  Now  cut  off  three  quarts  of  green 
corn  from  the  cobs,  set  the  corn  aside  and  put  the  cobs  to 
boil  with  the  pork,  as  they  will  add  much  to  the  richness  of 
the  mixture.  When  the  pork  has  boiled,  say  half  an  hour, 
remove  the  cobs  and  put  in  one  quart  of  freshly-gathered, 
green,  shelled  beans ;  boil  again  for  fifteen  minutes ;  then 
add  the  three  quarts  of  corn  and  let  it  boil  another  fifteen 
minutes.  Now  turn  the  whole  out  into  a  dish,  add  five  or 
six  large  spoonfuls  of  butter,  season  it  with  pepper  to  your 
taste,  and  with  salt  also,  if  the  salt  of  the  pork  has  not 
proved  sufficient.  If  the  liquor  has  boiled  away,  it  will  be 


ABOUT  FRUITS,    FLOWERS   AND   FARMING.  181 

necessary  to  add  a  little  more  to  it  before  taking  it  away 
from  the  fire,  as  this  is  an  essential  part  of  the  affair. 

6.  SALSIFY  OR  OYSTER-PLANT. — This  vegetable  is  raised 
exactly  as  are  carrots  and  parsnips.    Like  the  latter — they 
require  a  little  frosting  before  their  flavor  is  fully  devel- 
oped. 

They  should  be  scraped  and  washed  (but  not  soaked  in 
vinegar,  as  English  cooks  direct,  to  extract  a  bitter  taste, 
which  they  do  not  contain),  and  sliced ;  sprinkle  enough 
salt  upon  them  to  season  them,  pour  on  just  enough  boiling 
water  to  cover  them  ;  boil  till  perfectly  tender,  which  will 
be,  say  fifteen  minutes.  Put  butter  and  pepper  to  them ; 
stir  up  a  little  flour  in  cream  to  make  a  thin  paste  and  pour 
in  enough  to  thicken  a  little  the  water  in  which  they  were 
boiled.  Dish  with  or  without  toasted  bread,  as  may  suit 
the  taste. 

7.  TOMATOES. — The  recipe  which  we  gave  in  the  Farmer 
and  Gardener  has  been  universally  copied,  and,  we  believe, 
has  beguiled  thousands  to  the  love  of  tomatoes.     It  has 
been  introduced  to  cook-books  under  the  name  of  "  Indiana 
Recipe  for  Cooking  Tomatoes." 

8.  ONIONS  should  be  boiled  for  half  an  hour  in  salted 
water,  then  drained,  put  into  sweet  milk,  boiled  again  for 
five  or  ten  minutes,  seasoned  with  butter,  pepper  and  salt, 
and  served  up. 

9.  PIE-PLANT. — This   important    vegetable — among    the 
earliest,  the  most  wholesome,  and  of  the  easiest  culture — 
should  be  found  hi  every  garden,  and  served  up  on  every 
table  during  the  spring  and  early  summer.    To  prepare  it 
for  use,  strip  off  the  skin,  slice  it  thin,  put  into  a  dish  with 
a  few  spoonfuls  of  boiling  water,  just  enough  to  keep  from 
sticking,  for  its  own  juice  will  afford  liquid  enough  after  it 
is  cooked.     Boil  until  it  is  perfectly  tender,  stirring  it  con- 
stantly.    If  the  plant  is  good  and  the  fire  quick,  it  ought 
to  be  boiled  in  five  minutes.     Stir  in  all  the  sugar  needed 
while  it  is  hi  a  scalding  state.    A  little  nutmeg  o^  lemoi 


182  1M.MN    AND   PLEASANT  TALK 

peel.  ]>ut  in  while  it  is  hot,  improves  the  flavor.  Win  n  cool, 
it  may  IK-  used  for  tarts,  or  pics,  with  or  without  upper 
i-ni.st  ;  it  also  makes  a  better  apple-snucc  than  apples  do 
themselves. 

10.  EGG-PLANT. — Boil  in  salted  water  a  few  minutes ;  cut 
slices,  put  a  little  salt  between  each  slice,  and  let  them  lie 
for  half  an  hour.     Then  fry  them  hi  butter  or  lard  until 
they  are  brown. 

11.  CAULIFLOWER  AND  BROCCOLI. — The   only  difference 
between  these,  so  far  as  the  cook  is  concerned,  is  in  color. 
Take  off  the  outside  leaves  and  soak  them  for  an  hour  in 
salted  water.    Pour  boiling  water  to  them  and  boil  for  about 
twenty  minutes.     Serve  them  up  with  butter  and  pepper. 
The  Savoy  cabbages  are  next  in  delicacy  of  flavor  to  the 
cauliflower,  and  may  be  cooked  in  the  same  way. 


FARMERS,    TAKE    A    HINT. 

IT  is  very  surprising  to  see  how  slow  men  are  to  take  a 
hint.  The  frost  destroys  about  half  the  bloom  on  the  fruit- 
trees ;  everybody  prognosticates  the  loss  of  fruit;  instead 
of  that,  the  half  that  remains  is  larger,  fairer,  and  higher 
flavored  than  usual ;  and  the  trees  instead  of  being  ex- 
hausted, are  ready  for  another  crop  the  next  year.  Why 
don't  the  owner  take  the  hint  and  thin  out  his  fruit  every 
bearing  year?  But  no;  the  next  season  sees  his  orchard 
overloaded,  fruit  small,  and  not  well  formed ;  yet  he 
always  boasts  of  that  first-mentioned  crop  without  profiting 
by  the  lesson  it  teaches. 

We  heard  a  man  saying,  "  the  best  crop  of  celery  I  ever 

saw,  was  raised  by  old  John ,  on  a  spot  of  ground 

where  the  wash  from  the  barn-yard  ran  into  it  after  e\ «  i  v 
hard  shower."  Did  he  take  the  hint,  and  convey  such 


ABOUT   FRUITS,    FLOWERS   AND   FARMING.  183 

liquid  manure  in  trenches  to  his  garden?  Not  at  all; 
he  bragged  about  that  wonderful  crop  of  celery,  but  would 
not  take  the  hint. 

We  knew  a  case  where  a  farmer  subsoiled  a  field  and 
raised  crops  in  consequence  which  were  the  admiration  of 
the  neighborhood ;  and  for  years  the  field  showed  the 
advantage  of  deep  handling.  But  we  could  not  learn  that  a 
single  farmer  in  the  neighborhood  took  the  hint.  The  man 
who  acted  thus  wisely,  sold  his  farm  and  his  successor  pur- 
sued the  old  way  of  surface-scratching. 

A  stanch  farmer  complained  to  us  of  his  soil  as  too  loose 
and  light ;  we  mentioned  ashes  as  worth  trying ;  "  well, 
now  you  mention  it,  I  believe  it  will  do  good.  I  bought  a 
part  of  my  farm  from  a  man  who  was  a  wonderful  fellow  to 
save  up  ashes,  and  around  his  cabin  it  lay  in  heaps.  I  took 
away  the  house  and  ordered  the  ashes  to  be  scattered,  and 
to  this  day  I  notice  that  when  the  plow  runs  along  through 
that  spot,  the  ground  turns  up  moist  and  close-grained." 
It  is  strange  that  he  never  took  the  hint !  There  are  thou- 
sands of  bushels  of  ashes  lying  not  far  from  his  farm  about 
an  old  soap  and  candle  factory  with  which  he  might  have 
dressed  his  whole  farm. 

A  farmer  gets  a  splendid  crop  of  corn  or  grain  from  off  a 
grass  or  clover  lay.  Does  he  take  the  hint?  Does  he 
adopt  the  system  which  shall  allow  him  every  year  just 
such  a  sward  to  put  his  grain  on  ?  No,  he  hates  book- 
farming,  and  scientific  farming,  and  "  this  notion  of  rota- 
tion ;"  and  jogs  on  the  old  way. 

A  few  years  ago  our  farmers  got  roundly  into  debt ;  and 
they  have  worried  and  sweat  under  it,  till  some  of  them 
have  grown  greyer,  and  added  not  a  few  wrinkles  to  their 
face.  Do  they  take  the  hint  ?  Are  they  not  pitching  into 
debt  again  ? 

A  few  years  ago  mules  commanded  a  high  price  ;  every- 
body raised  mules  forthwith  ;  the  market  of  course  was 
glutted ;  the  price  fell ;  everybody  quit  the  business ;  mar- 


184  PLAIN     AM>    PLEASANT  TALK 

kets  became  empty  and  the  price  rose ;  a  few  men  who 
had  stuck  to  the  business  pushed  in  their  droves  ami  made 
money ;  and  now  everybody  is  raising  mules  again.  The 
same  game  is  played  every  four  or  five  years  with  pork ; 
men  make  when  pork  is  scarce,  but  few  farmers  have  stock 
on  hand.  They  instantly  rush  into  the  business,  flood  the 
country  with  hogs  and  get  almost  nothing  for  them.  Why 
don't  men  take  the  hint  ?  A  moderate  stock  all  the  time, 
makes  more  money  than  that  system  which  has  none  when 
the  price  is  high  and  too  many  when  the  price  is  low. 

Because  one  year,  the  wheat  crop  has  been  very  large 
and  fine,  and  the  price  low,  not  half  so  much  will  be  put  hi 
another  year.  Those  who  are  wise,  foreseeing  this  fact  and 
sowing  largely,  will,  if  the  season  favors  wheat,  reap  a  hand- 
some profit. 

Auctioneers  tell  us  that  a  "  wink  is  as  good  as  a  word." 
We  give  both,  and  hope  our  readers  will  take  the  hint. 


MIXING    PAINT,    AND    LAYING    IT    ON. 

IT  is  convenient,  and  oftentimes,  on  the  score  of  economy, 
necessary  for  persons  (who  have  not  been  apprenticed  to 
the  trade),  to  do  their  own  painting.  To  enable  such  to 
practise  with  success,  we  propose  giving  a  few  hints. 

RESPECTING  THE  ARTICLES   USED. 

WHITE  LEAD. — This  is  extensively  manufactured  in  all  of 
our  principal  cities.  Low  priced  leads  are  always  adulterated 
by  chalk,  or,  as  it  is  called  in  its  prepared  state,  whiting.  It 
is  sometimes  so  largely  mixed  with  this,  as  to  be  worthless, 
and  every  one  has  observed  houses,  painted  for  a  year 
or  so,  from  which  the  paint  rubs  off  like  whitewash,  in 


ABOUT   FRUITS,    FLOWERS    AND   FARMING.  185 

consequence  of  the  use  of  adulterated  lead.  The  poorest 
lead  is  sold  without  any  brand.  The  common  article  is 
branded  as  No.  1,  with  the  maker's  name.  The  best  article 
is  branded  with  the  maker's  name,  as  PURE,  or  SUPERIOR. 
It  is  the  best  economy  always  to  use  the  pure  lead. 

OIL. — Linseed  oil  is  that  usually  employed  in  painting. 
It  contains  a  large  amount  of  fatty  substance  and  of  other 
impurity,  which  should  be  separated  from  it  before  it  is 
used.  This  is  to  be  done  by  boiling.  For  outside  work, 
the  oil  should  always  be  boiled,  no  matter  what  the"  painter 
says  about  it.  Great  care  should  be  taken  in  doing  this. 
Let  the  kettle  be  set  out  of  doors,  the  heat  be  increased 
gradually,  but  never  enough  to  produce  violent  boiling,  as 
the  oil  will  expand,  run  over,  and  take  fire,  when  nothing 
can  save  it,  or  the  house  either,  oftentimes,  if  you  have 
been  foolish  enough  to  do  it  within  doors.  As  fast  as 
impurities  rise  to  the  surface,  skim  them  off — when  the  oil 
has  a  clear  look,  slack  off  the  fire  and  let  the  oil  cool ;  care- 
fully turn  off  the  clear  portion,  leaving  the  sediment  undis- 
turbed. 

DRYERS. — Substances  used  to  make  paint  dry  quickly 
are  called  Dryers.  For  light  work  sugar  of  lead  is  the 
best ;  for  colored  paint,  litharge  and  red  lead  are  employed. 
Spirits  of  turpentine  is  used  for  the  same  purpose.  Litharge 
and  red  lead  are  usually  boiled  in  with  the  oil  at  the 
rate  of  about  a  quarter  of  a  pound  of  litharge  to  a  gallon 
of  oil. 

MIXING  AND  LAYING  ON. — Paint  is  purchased  in  kegs, 
containing  twenty-five  pounds  of  lead  ground  in  oil,  and 
ready  for  mixing.  The  kegs  themselves  make  excellent 
paint-pets.  The  lead  is  to  be  mixed  according  to  the  work 
to  be  done.  If  paint  is  laid  on  in  heavy  coats  it  will  crack 
and  peel  off.  If  several  thin  coats  are  successively  laid  on, 
it  forms  a  solid  body.  The  first  coat  is  called  priming. 
The  lead  is  made  quite  thin  with  oil  for'  priming.  Before 
laying  it  on,  let  the  work  be  cleaned,  all  dust  and  dirt  be 


18G  PLAIN     A\l>    r\  KASANT   TALK 

removed.  The  surface  is  then  covered  evenly  with  paint, 
and  allowed  to  dry  thoroughly. 

SECOND  COAT. — Let  nail-holes,  cracks,  etc.,  be  filk-d  with 
putty;  for  colored  painting,  red-lead  putty  is  the  best. 
Tlic  paint  should  be  mixed  to  the  thickness  of  thin  rream, 
and  laid  on  evenly,  but  not  in  too  great  quantities.  In  nice 
work,  arter  this  coat  has  thoroughly  dried,  it  should  be 
rubbed  down  with  pumice-stone  or  fine  sand-paper.  The 
third  coat  is  to  be  laid  on  as  was  the  second.  Three  e<>:its 
at  leaM,  an-  required  for  good  painting.  Four  or  five  will 
be  still  better. 

Taint  mixed  with  boiled  oil  usually  has  a  glossy  appear- 
ance. If  it  is  desired  to  increase  this,  small  portions  of 
varnish  are  added.  This  is  usually  confined  to  outside 
work. 

In  cities  the  glossy  surface  of  paint,  is  dis-estcemed  for 
inside  work ;  and  instead,  a  flatted  white  is  laid  on.  This 
is  produced  by  mixing  the  lead  for  the  last  coat  with  tur- 
pentine instead  of  oil,  by  which  a  dull  white  is  made. 
Flatted  colors  are  not  susceptible  of  being  cleaned  by  wash- 
ing more  that  once  or  twice,  whereas  common  paint  will 
endure  washing,  if  carefully  performed,  for  years.  If  paint- 
ing is  well  done,  and  the  paint  is  of  the  best  materials,  it 
ought  to  last  twenty  years.  But  the  trash  too  often 
daubed  upon  buildings,  does  not  last  five  years. 

White  will  keep  its  color  best  for  outside  work.  Some 
tint  is  thought  to  be  more  agreeable  for  inside  work.  Much 
judgment  is  required  in  preparing  colored  or  tinted  paints; 
and  verbal  directions  cannot  well  be  given  for  it  in  any 
moderate  space.  The  usual  pigments  employed  in  making 
up  the  tints  most  in  fashion,  are  for  grey — white  lead. 
Prussian  blue,  ivory  black,  and  lake,  or  Venetian  red  ;  for 
pea  and  sea  greens — white,  Prussian  blue,  and  yellow  ;  for 
olive  green — white,  Prussian  blue,  umber,  and  yellow 
ochre ;  for  fawn  color — burned  terra  sienna,  umber,  and 
white. 


ABOUT   FRUITS,    FLOWERS   AND   FARMING.  187 

We  add  two  recipes  taken  from  an  English  work,  for  a 
cheap  paint  for  inside  walls. 

"  MILK  PAINT. — A  paint  has  been  used  on  the  Continent 
with  success,  made  from  milk  and  lime,  that  dries  quicker 
than  oil  paint,  and  has  no  smell.  It  is  made  in  the  follow- 
ing manner :  Take  fresh  curds  and  bruise  the  lumps  on  a 
grinding-stone,  or  in  an  earthen  pan,  or  mortar,  with  a  spa- 
tula or  strong  spoon.  Then  put  them  into  a  pot  with  an 
equal  quantity  of  lime,  well  slacked  with  water,  to  make  it 
just  thick  enough  to  be  kneaded.  Stir  this  mixture  without 
adding  more  water,  and  a  white-colored  fluid  will  soon  be 
obtained,  which  will  serve  as  a  paint.  It  may  be  laid  on 
with  a  brush  with  as  much  ease  us  varnish,  and  it  dries 
very  speedily.  It  must,  however,  be  used  the  same  day  it 
is  made,  for  if  kept  till  next  day  it  will  be  too  thick  :  conse- 
quently no  more  must  be  mixed  up  at  one  tune  than  can  be 
laid  on  in  a  day.  If  any  color  be  required,  any  of  the 
ochres,  as  yellow  ochre,  or  red  ochre,  or  umber,  may  be 
mixed  with  it  in  any  proportion.  Prussian  blue  would  be 
changed  by  the  lime.  Two  coats  of  this  paint  will  be  suffi- 
cient, and  when  quite  dry  it  may  be  polished  with  a  piece 
of  woollen  cloth,  or  similar  substance,  and  it  will  become  as 
bright  as  varnish.  It  will  only  do  for  inside  work ;  but  it 
will  last  longer  if  varnished  over  with  white  of  egg  after  it 
has  been  polished." 

"  The  following  recipe  for  milk  paint  is  given  in 
'Smith's  Art  of  House  Painting:'  Take  of  skimmed 
milk  nearly  two  quarts;  of  fresh-slaked  lime  about  six 
ounces  and  a  half;  of  linseed  oil  four  ounces,  and  of  whiting 
three  pounds;  put  the  lime  into  a  stone  vessel,  and  pour 
upon  it  a  sufficient  quantity  of  milk  to  form  a  mixture 
resembling  thin  cream;  then  add  the  oil,  a  little  at  a  time, 
stirring  it  with  a  small  spatula;  the  remaining  milk  is  then 
to  be  added,  and  lastly  the  whiting.  The  milk  must  on 
no  account  be  sour.  Slake  the  lime  by  dipping  the  pieces 


188  PLAIN  AND  PLEASANT  TALK 

in  water,  out  of  which  it  is  to  bo  immediately  taken,  and 
Irt't  t«»  >!;ike  iii  the  air.  For  fine  white  paint  the  oil  of 
oara^  t,  because  colorless;  but  with  ochres  the  com- 

monest oils  may  be  used.  The  oil  when  mixed  with  the 
milk  and  lime  entirely  disappears,  and  is  totally  dissolved 
by  the  lime,  forming  a  calcareous  soap.  The  whiting  or 
ochre  is  to  be  gently  crumbled  on  the  surface  of  the  fluid, 
which  it  gradually  imbibes,  and  at  last  sinks :  at  this 
period  it  must  be  well  stirred  in.  This  paint  may  be 
colored  like  distemper  or  size-color,  with  levigated  charcoal, 
yellow  ochre,  etc.,  and  used  in  the  same  manner.  The 
quantity  here  prescribed  is  sufficient  to  cover  twenty-seven 
square  yards  with  the  first  coat,  and  it  will  cost  about  three 
halfpence  a  yard.  The  same  paint  will  do  for  outdoor 
work  by  the  addition  of  two  ounces  of  slaked  lime,  two 
ounces  of  linseed  oil,  and  two  ounces  of  white  Burgundy 
pitch :  the  pitch  to  be  melted  in  a  gentle  heat  with  the  oil, 
and  then  added  to  the  smooth  mixture  of  the  milk  and 
lime.  In  cold  weather  it  must  be  mixed  warm,  to  facilitate 
its  incorporation  with  the  milk." 

"We  add  several  recipes  of  various  convenient  kinds  of 
paint  to  be  employed  in  particular  situations,  and  for  special 
purposes. 

"A  coating  to  preserve  wood  in  damp  situations  may 
be  made  by  beating  twelve  pounds  of  resin  in  a  mortar, 
and  adding  to  it  three  pounds  of  sulphur  and  twelve  pints 
of  whale  oil.  This  mixture  must  then  be  melted  over  afire, 
and  stirred  well  while  it  is  melting.  Ochre  of  any  required 
color,  ground  in  oil,  may  be  put  to  it.  This  composition 
must  be  laid  on  hot,  and  when  the  first  coat  is  dry,  which 
will  be  in  two  or  three  days,  a  second  coat  may  be  given ; 
and  a  third,  if  necessary." 

"  Gas  tar,  with  yellow  ochre,  makes  a  very  cheap  and 
durable  green  paint  for  iron  rails  and  coarse  woodwork." 


ABOUT  FRUITS,   FLO  WEES   AND   FARMING.  189 

"  Composition  to  lay  on  a  boarded  building,  to  resist  the 
wither  and  likewise  fire. — Take  one  measure  of  fine  sand, 
two  measures  of  wood-ashes  well  sifted,  three  of  slaked 
lime  ground  up  with  oil,  and  mix  them  together ;  lay  this 
on  with  a  brush,  the  first  coat  thin,  the  second  thick.  This 
adheres  so  strongly  to  the  boards  covered  with  it,  that  it 
resists  an  iron  tool,  and  the  action  of  fire,  and  is  impene- 
trable by  water." 

"  A  flexible  paint  for  canvas  is  made  by  stirring  into 
fifty-six  pounds  of  common  oil  paint  a  solution  of  soap  lye, 
made  of  half  a  pound  of  soap  and  three  pounds  of  water :  it 
must  be  used  while  warm." 

"  A*  black  coloring  for  garden  walls  may  be  made  by 
mixing  quicklime,  lampblack,  a  little  copperas,  and  hot 
water." 


GARDEN    WE  EDS. 

AFTER  hot  weather  sets  in  many  are  naturally  inclined  to 
relax  their  garden  labors;  they  have  eaten  their  salads, 
their  radishes  and  peas ;  their  beans  and  corn  require  but 
little  attention,  and  as  for  the  rest,  it  is  left  to  the  company 
of  weeds. 

WEEDS. — If  the  garden  be  thoroughly  hoed  twice  or 
three  times,  the  labor  of  keeping  down  weeds  the  rest  of  the 
summer  will  be  small.  It  is  best  to  go  over  a  compartment 
first  with  the  hoe,  to  cut  off  weeds  and  loosen  the  soil,  then 
with  a  rake  go  over  it  again,  levelling  and  smoothing  the 
surface,  and  collecting  the  weeds  into  heaps,  which  should 
be  wheeled  to  the  manure-corner  and  left  to  decay.  In 
raking,  tread  backward  so  that  your  tracks  will  be  covered 
by  the  rake,  and  the  bed  left  even. 

Among  the  most  vexatious  weeds  may  be  mentioned  the 
jmrslain  (Portulasca  oleracea),  commonly  called  pussly. 
It  comes  in  May  and  lasts  through  the  summer.  One  plant 


190  PLAIN   AND   PLEASANT  TALK 

1  enough  lor  a  whole  :irro.  It  is  very  tenacious 
of.  life.  The  least  bit  of  root  sprouts  again,  and  when 
rooted  up,  if  a  single  iil>iv  touches  the  soil,  it  starts  oil'  in 
full  vigor.  When  boiled  it  furnishes  a  very  palatable  artiele 
of  "greens."  We  go  over  the  ground  with  a  hoe,  then 
rake  it  into  heaps  and  wheel  it  to  the  barn-yard.  HOLTS 
are  fond  of  it,  and  it  is  said  to  fatten  them  well.  It  is 
somewhat  amusing  to  those  who  are  vexed  at  its  insuper- 
able intrusiveness  and  its  inevitable  vigor,  to  hear  English 
garden-books  speaking  of  it  as  "somewhat  tender,"  of  rais- 
ing it  on  hot-beds,  of  drilling  it  in  the  open  garden,  of 
watering  it  in  dry  weather  thrice  a  week,  and  cutting  it 
carefully  so  that  it  may  sprout  again !  Cut  it  as  you  please, 
gentlemen  !  rake  it  into  alleys,  let  an  August  sun  scorch  it, 
and  if  there  is  so  much  as  a  handful  of  dirt  thrown  at  it,  no 
fear  but  that  it  will  sprout  again.  It  is  a  vegetable  type  of 
immortality.  The  Jamestown  weed  (called  jimpsum),  the 
Spanish  needle,  lamb's-quarters,  etc.,  are  easily  eradicated 
for  the  season  by  one  or  two  hoeings.  The  grasses  which 
infest  gardens,  spreading  into  a  cultivated  ground  from  the 
grass-plat,  or  brought  in  with  manure,  are  easily  weeded 
out  if  plucked  while  small ;  but  if  left,  the  long  spreading- 
roots  tear  up  tender  plants  along  with  them. 

It  is  said  that  if  no  seeds  were  brought  into  the  land  by 
wind  or  manure,  or  growth,  the  stock  of  weeds  might  be 
eradicated  in  eight  years.  But  so  long  as  corners  and 
fence  edges  are  reserved  as  weed-nurseries,  to  furnish  an 
annual  supply  of  seed,  no  one  need  fear  that  gardening  will 
become  too  easy  from  want  of  work. 

We  know  of  but  two  reasons  for  letting  weeds  grow  to 
any  size.  In  a  large  garden,  when  all  the  ground  is  not  to 
be  planted  at  once,  the  reserved  portions  may  be  suffered 
to  sprout  all  the  weeds,  and  when  six  or  eight  inches  high, 
if  turned  under,  they  will  furnish  good  manure.  Again, 
when  cut-worms  are  very  numerous,  when  tomatoes  and 
cabbages  have  been  set  out  on  a  clean  compartment,  wo 


ABOUT   FRUITS,    FLOWERS   AND   FARMING.  191 

have  lost  from  a  half  to  two-thirds  of  the  plants.  If  the 
wivds  are  kept  down  just  about  the  hill,  and  permitted  to 
grow  for  a  few  weeks,  between  the  rows,  although  it  has  a 
very  slovenly  look,  it  will  save  the  cabbages,  etc.,  by  giving 
ample  foot  to  the  cut-worm.  When  the  plants  grow  tough 
in  the  stem  the  weeds  may  be  lightly  spaded  in,  and  the 
sin  ihce  levelled  with  a  rake. 


LUCERNE. 


THIS  admirable  plant  is  not  so  well  known  as  it  should  be. 
It  resembles  a  clover,  and  is  used  for  green  food  for  cattle, 
for  which  it  is  peculiarly  adapted  both  by  its  nutriciousness 
and  its  endurance  of  repeated  cuttings.  Care  must  be 
taken  to  put  it  upon  the  right  soil  and  it  will  bear  mowing 
four  or  five  times  a  year,  and  will  last  for  ten  years — with 
care  five  years  more !  The  soil  for  it  is  a  deep,  a  very  deep 
vegetable  loam,  which  drains  itself  perfectly  and  yet  with- 
out becoming  dry.  It  has  a  fusiform  root,  which,  as  the 
plant  grows  older,  extends  downward  from  four  to  six  feet. 
The  subsoil  is  regarded  by  Flemish  farmers  as  of  more 
importance  than  the  surface  soil.  A  stiff,  cold,  clay,  a  wet 
and  springy  soil ;  a  hard,  cold,  wet  subsoil  of  any  sort,  is 
unfavorable  to  it.  It  should  therefore  be  tried  on  warm, 
dry,  and  rich  soils,  than  which  none  are  better  than  our 
sandy  alluvions  or  bottom  lands.  During  its  first  year  it 
requires  some  care,  to  keep  down  weeds,  as  it  is  easily 
smothered ;  but  when  once  established  it  rules  the  soil  in 
di'iiance  of  anything.  If  the  ground  is  very  clean,  it  may  be 
sown  broadcast ;  but  it  is  always  safer  and  often  necessary 
to  drill  it.  Authors  vary  as  to  the  quantity  of  seed 
required  per  acre,  Von  Timer  says  six  to  eight  pounds, 
while  his  French  editor  says  from  sixteen  to  eighteen.  We 


192  PLAIN  AND   PLEASANT  TALK 

suppose  that  from  ten  to  twelve  pounds  will  be  a  fair 
amount. 

"When  the  plants  are  well  established  they  will  be 
improved  by  severe  harrowing  every  spring,  a  sharp  har- 
row being  used  until  the  field  looks  as  if  it  were  plowed. 

Lucerne  has  been  tried  by  a  few  cultivators  in  the  West, 
but  by  more  in  the  East,  with  great  success,  and  it  lias  this 
peculiar  excellence,  that,  thanks  to  its  very  long  roots,  it 
withstands  our  severest  droughts ;  indeed  our  hottest  and 
dryest  summers  are  those  which  it  seems  to  delight  in. 


FAMILY    GOVERNMENT. 

"  WILLIAM  !  stop  that  doise,  I  say — won't  you  stop !  Stop, 
I  tell  you,  or  I'll  slap  your  mouth." 

William  bawls  a  little  louder. 

"  William,  I  tell  you !  ain't  you  going  to  stop  ?  Stop  I 
say !  If  you  don't  stop  I'll  whip  you,  sure." 

William  goes  up  a  fifth,  and  beats  time  with  his  heels. 

"  I  never  saw  such  a  child  ! — he's  got  temper  enough  for 
a  whole  town ;  I'm  sure  he  didn't  get  it  from  me.  Why 
don't  you  be  still !  Whist.  Wh-i-st.  Come,  come,  be  still, 
won't  you  ?  Stop,  stop,  STOP,  I  say !  Don't  you  see  this — 
don't  you  see  this  stick  ?  See  here  now,"  (cuts  the  air  with 
the  stick). 

William,  more  furious,  kicks  very  manfully  at  his  mother 
— grows  redder  in  the  face,  lets  out  the  last  note,  and 
begins  to  reel,  and  shake,  and  twist,  in  a  most  spiteful 
manner. 

"  Come,  William !  come  dear — that's  a  darling — naughty 
William !  come,  that's  a  good  boy ;  donty  cry,  p-o-o-r,  little 
fellow;  sant  ab-o-o-s-e  you,  sail  eh!  Ma's  ittle  man,  want, 
a  piece  of  sooger  ?  Ma's  little  boy  got  cramp,  p-o-o-r  little 
sick  boy,"  etc.,  etc. 


ABOUT  FRUITS,   FLOWERS  AND   FARMING.  193 

William  wipes  up,  and  minds,  and  eats  his  sugar,  and 
stops. 

AFTER  SCENE. — The  minister  is  present,  and  very  nice 
talk  is  going  on  upon  the  necessity  of  governing  children. 
"Too  true,"  says  mamma,  "some  people  will  give  up  to 
their  children,  and  it  ruins  them — every  child  should  be 
governed.  But  then  it  won't  do  to  carry  it  too  far ;  if  one 
whips  all  the  time  it  will  break  a  child's  spirit.  One 
ought  to  miy  kindness  and  firmness  together  in  managing 
children." 

"  I  think  so,"  said  the  preacher ;  "  firmness  first  and  then 
kindness." 

"  Yes,  sir,  that's  my  practice  exactly." 


CATALOGUE    OF   FLOWERS,    SEEDS,   AND    FRUITS. 

WE  have  received  from  different  directions  catalogues  of 
seeds,  flowers,  and  fruits.  Instead  of  a  mere  mention  of 
them,  we  shall  employ  them  as  texts  for  some  remarks  on 
the  departments  to  which  they  belong. 

The  kinds,  and  varieties  of  the  same  kind  of  vegetables 
advertised  are  satisfactory.  Then  there  is  evidence  that  the 
easily  besetting  sin  of  seed  establishments  has  been  resisted 
and  very  much  overcome,  viz. :  a  prodigal  multiplication 
of  varieties.  Now  we  do  not  wish  to  tie  down  a  seedsman 
to  only  one  variety  of  cucumber — one  pea — one  bean  ;  for 
there  is  great  advantage  in  having  many  varieties  of  the 
same  vegetable.  Some  love  mild  radishes,  and  some  love 
the  full  peppery  taste ;  as  both  qualities  cannot  exist  in  the 
same  variety  it  is  desirable  to  have  two.  But  some  radishes 
which  do  admirably  in  the  spring  and  early  summer,  lose 
their  good  qualities  if  planted  in  summer.  We  therefore 
seek  and  find  a  summer  variety.  This  again  fails  for  late 


194  PLAIN    AND    PI.KASAXT  TALK 

autumnal   use,  :m<l  we  procure  a   (so  called)    winter  sort. 
We  need  one  pea  for  it-  .  i.ut  early  fruit  seldom 

/.e  or  a  high  flavor  ;  we  desire  other  varieties,  there- 
for flavor,  even  though,  in  giving  them  a  longer 
period  to  perfect  their  juices,  we  have  a  late  pea.  But  some 
men  raise  peas  for  market,  and  cannot  afford  to  raise  a -pea 
im-rely  because  fine-flavored,  unless  also  it  '^prolific.  Then, 
once  more,  market  peas  must  be  raised,  usually  as  a  field- 
pea,  and  sown  broadcast.  Some  peas  stand  up  stronger 
than  others,  and  these  are  of  course  preferred.  Now,  as  \ve 
cannot  find  any  vegetable  that  combines  all  the  qualities  of 
carl/ness,  size,  flavor,  and  adaptation  to  variety  of  soil  and 
diversity  of  cultivation,  we  come  as  near  to  it  as  possible, 
by  gaining  varieties,  in  which  some  one  or  more  of  these 
qualities  are  better  developed  than  in  any  others.  The  rea- 
sons for  multiplying  varieties  afford  a  rule  by  which  they 
may  be  limited. 

The  fact  that  a  seed  is  a  variety  different  from  all  others 
is  no  good  reason  for  retaining  or  cultivating  it ;  it  must,  in 
SOME  respects,  surpass  others  now  in  use,  or  it  only  encum- 
bers the  garden.  What  is  the  use  of  ten  varieties  of  peas 
ripening  act  the  same  time  of  one  size,  and  differing  from 
eacli  other  in  not  one  assignable  particular?  When  a  cata- 
logue enumerates t/t/ty  varieties  of  cabbage,  or  pea,  or  bean, 
are  we  to  believe  that  each  of  \\\e  fifty  has  a  virtue  peculiar 
to  itself?  If  not,  if  two-thirds  of  them  have  no  merit 
which  is  not  found,  and  found  in  a  higher  degree,  in  the 
one-third  they  have  no  business  to  be  retained.  Let  the 
one-third,  stand  and  the  rest  be  erased.  We  regard  a  very 
fat  catalogue  as  we  do  a  very  fat  man — all  the  worse  for  its 
obesity.  In  comparing  catalogues,  we  are  not  left  as  much 
without  an  authoritative  standard  of  judgment,  in  respect 
to  a  proper  extension  of  the  number  of  varieties,  as  might 
at  first  appear.  English  gardening  has  been  carried  to  such 
a  degree  of  excellence,  both  as  an  art  and  as  a  science,  that 
we  may  regard  the  deliberate  judgment  of  the  best  gar 


ABOUT  FRUITS,    FLOWERS   AND   FARMING. 


195 


deners  as  law  on  this  subject.  When  Loudon  published  his 
invaluable  "Encyclopedia  of  Gardening,"  he  was  permitted 
by  the  London  Horticultural  Society  to  avail  himself  of  the 
services  of  the  distinguished  Monro  in  the  department  of 
culinary  vegetables. 

L-et  us  compare  the  catalogues  of  three  first  rate  seedsmen 
as  it  respects  a  multiplication  of  varieties,  with  Mr.  Monro's 
(selections : 


1* 

1 

t 

i 

i 

& 

£- 

Cabbage. 

1 

1 

1 

Landreth  

2 

15 

2 

5 

9 

10 

7 

15 

8 

Breck  

9 

10 

6 

8 

?fl 

IS 

?0 

94 

12 

Prince  

IT 

25 

8 

9 

80 

49 

47 

61 

56 

Mr.  Monro  names  nineteen  kinds  of  peas  only,  instead 
of  forty-seven  :  twenty-two  kinds  of  beans  instead  of  sixty- 
one  /  seven  varieties  of  turnip  instead  of  twenty-two,  or, 
worse  yet,  thirty ;  fourteen  sorts  of  lettuce,  instead  of  fifty- 
two. 

To  the  uninitiated  a  catalogue  may  look  meagre  with  only 
ei'jht  kinds  of  lettuce  instead  of  fifty  /  fifteen  beans  instead 
of  sixty-one,  etc.,  but  these  corpulent  catalogues  make 
meagre  pockets,  except  in  the  case  of  the  seedsman.  A 
much  greater  latitude  of  varieties  is  allowable  in  a  nursery 
catalogue  than  in  a  seedsman's  list.  But  in  even  these 
there  is  a  disposition  to  extravagance  which  needs  to  be  cor- 
rected. Where  the  disproportion  of  knowledge  between 
the  buyers  and  seller  is  so  great  as  it  is,  and  for  some  time, 
must  be,  in  horticultural  matters,  it  becomes  nurserymen 
and  seedsmen  who  are  honest  (and  wo  have  many  such,  and 
they  are  increasing) — those  who  regard  their  business  as  an 
honorable  branch  of  science,  as  well  as  a  proper  means  of 
livelihood,  and  who  hope  to  gain  a  high  reputation,  even 


196  PLAIN  AND  PLEASANT  TALK 

more  than  they  do  wealth,  it  becomes  such  to  render  the 
lists  SELECT;  aiul  while  the  monstrously  bloated  catalogues 
of  boasting  and  avaricious  men  continue  to  perplex  and  de- 
the  unwary,  let  all  intelligent  cultivators  sustain 
those  who  rely  on  the  quality  rather  than  quantity  of  their 
articles. 


GARDEN  SEEDS. 

GOOD  seeds  are  the  very  first  requisite  for  a  good  garden ; 
soil  and  culture  cannot  make  good  crops  out  of  bad  seed. 

1.  As  a  general  rule,  buy  your  seeds.  The  reasons  for  it 
are  so  many  and  so  good,  that  you  will  certainly  do  it, 
unless  economy  prevent ;  but  it  is  better  to  economize  else- 
where. 

In  the  first  place,  seed-raising  is  a  delicate  business  ;  and, 
for  many  reasons,  will  be  better  done  by  those  who  make  it 
their  business,  than  by  those  who  do  not.  A  reputable 
seedsman  never  dreams  of  raising,  himself  all  the  seeds 
which  he  sells.  For  example,  one  sort  of  seed  is  let  out  to 
u  tanner  who  contracts  to  raise  it  in  a  given  soil  and  man- 
ner, and  at  a  distance  from  all  other  seeds.  One  man  raises 
the  beet  seed — another  man,  very  often  hundreds  of  miles 
distant,  another  sort.  Peas  are  sent  to  Vermont  and  to 
Canada,  where  the  pea-bug  does  not  infest  them.  Some 
seeds,  for  which  this  climate  is  not  favorable,  are  imported 
from  Italy,  from  Guernsey — just  as  flowering  bulbs  are  from 
B«4land.  We  suppose  this  to  be  true  of  Landreth,  Thorn- 
b?  .*n,  Pi  ince,  Breck,  Risley,  etc.  In  cases  where  seeds  are 
raised  upon  the  premises  of  the  seedsman,  they  are  put  on 
different  parts  of  the  farm,  as  far  apart  as  possible. 

These  precautions  are  indispensable  to  the  procuration  of 
the  best  seeds  of  esculent  vegetables.  Species  of  the  suimt 
genus,  with  open  flowers,  are  so  easily  crossed,  that,  if 


ABOUT   FRUITS,    FLOWERS    AND   FARMING.  197 

grown  contiguously,  they  cannot  be  kept  pure.  All  cucurbi- 
taceous  plants,  such  as  squashes,  pumpkins,  melons, 
rut-umbers,  gourds,  ett-.,  will  mix  and  degenerate  if  planted 
even  in  the  same  garden.  Let  any  one  who  wishes  to  see 
how  it  is  done,  watch  the  bee  covering  itself  with  golden 
pollen  as  it  searches  for  honey  in  the  cells  of  the  flower,  and 
darting  off  to  another,  mingling  the  fertilizing  powder  of 
the  two.  In  a  single  morning,  cucumbers  will  be  mixed 
with  each  other,  and  with  canteloupes;  squashes  will  be 
crossed,  and  in  the  next  generation  will  show  it.  Where 
the  organs  of  flowers  are  protected,  as  in  the  pea,  bean,  etc., 
by  a  floral  envelope,  insects  do  not  mix  their  pollen.  I 
I  have  never  known  pure  beet  seed  raised  in  a  private  gar- 
den which  had  more  than  the  single  kind  in  it — or  when 
another  garden  was  near  which  had  other  sorts. 

We  prefer,  generally,  northern  seeds  to  those  raised 
elsewhere.  A  mere  change  of  soil  and  climate  is  often 
advantageous  to  seeds.  But  besides  this,  greater  care  and 
skill  are  usually  employed  at  the  north  in  producing  sound 
and  safe  seeds. 

We  can  recommend,  from  repeated  trials,  the  seeds  of 
Risley,  Chatauque  county,  N.  Y.,  and  of  Mr.  Breck  of 
Boston.  Landreth  of  Philadelphia  has  a  high  reputation, 
but  we  have  been  unfortunate  in  using  his  seeds — very 
probably  from  lack  of  skill.  We  shall  try  them  again  next 
summer.  Our  early  York  cabbages  proved  to  be  trifling 
flower  seeds — Lima  beans  were  the  white  Dutch  runners. 
Not  one  of  five  of  their  peas  vegetated.  The  beets  were 
not  good  seed,  and  the  variety  (blood  beet)  not  pure. 
The  experience  of  others,  at  this  point,  is  like  ours.  Unless 
more  care  is  taken  in  that  establishment  their  seeds  will 
lose  all  credit.  Their  lettuce  seed  has  always  proved 
good,  and  such  others  as  are  easy  to  raise. 

2.  We  insert  a  table,  exhibiting  the  years  which  different 
seeds  will  retain  their  vitality. 


198 


PLAIN    AND    PLEASANT   TALK 


TIME  THAT   SEEDS   WILL    KZET. 


IBM* 

Asparagus 4  or  13 

Halm 2 

Basil 1  or  3 

Deans 1  or  2 

Beets 8  or  10 

Borage 2 

Cabbage 6  or  8 

Carrot I  or  7 

Celery 6  or  8 

Corn 2  or  3 

Cress 2 

Cucumber 8  or  10 

Caraway 4 

Fennel 6 

Garlic 3 

Leek 8  or  4 

Lettuce 8  or  4 

Mangel  Wurtzel 8  or  10 


Marjoram 4 

Melon 8  or  10 

Mustard 8  or  4 

Nasturtium 2  or  3 

Onion 3 

Parsley 6  or  6 

Parsnip 1 

Pea 2  or  8 

Pumpkin 8  or  1C 

Pepper 6  or  fi 

Radish 6  or  8 

Rue 3 

Ruta  Baga 4 

Salsify 2 

Savory 3  or  4 

Spinage 8  or  4 

Squash 8  or  10 

Turnip 3  or  4 


Some  seeds  retain  their  power  of  germination  to  an 
astonishing  length  of  time,  as  will  appear  from  facts  stated 
by  Prof.  Lindley : 

"  Not  to  speak  of  the  doubtful  instances  of  seeds  taken 
from  the  Pyramids  having  germinated,  melons  have  been 
known  to  grow  at  the  age  of  40  years,  kidney  beans  at  100, 
sensitive-plant  at  GO,  rye  at  40 ;  and  there  are  now  grow- 
ing, in  the  garden  of  the  Horticultural  Society,  raspberry 
plants  raised  from  seeds  1GOO  or  1700  years  old."  (See 
"  Introduction  to  Botany,"  ed.  3,  p.  358.) 

But  in  selecting  seeds,  fresh  ones  should  be  had  if  pos- 
sible. Where,  however,  the  vegetable  is  cultivated  for  the 
sake  of  its  flower,  or  its  fruit,  it  is  sometimes  better  to  select 
old  seed.  Thus  balsamines  (the  touch-me-not)  and  the 
cucumber,  squash  and  melon  tribe  do  better  on  seeds  thm- 
or  four  years  old ;  for  fresh  seeds  produce  plants  whose 
growth  will  be  too  luxuriant  for  producing  fruit ;  whereas 
from  old  seed,  the  plants  have  less  .vigor  of  growth  but  a 
greater  tendency  to  fruit  welL 


ABOUT   FKUIT3,    FLOWERS   AND    FARMING.  199 


FARMER'S   GARDENS. 

FARMERS  are  apt  to  have  very  inferior  gardens.  The 
pica  is,  that  in  the  spring  they  have  no  time  ;  the  farm  crops 
lire  of  more  importance.  In  consequence  of  such  a  decision, 
no  garden  will  be  had  unless  the  housewife  is  willing  to  be 
gardenwife  too.  At  her  importunity  at  length  one  horse  is 
put  to  the  plow  and  the  garden  is  broken  up — say  four 
inches  deep.  Possibly  the  boy  is  allowed  to  throw  up  the 
beds,  but  very  often  even  this  is  left  to  woman's  hand.  She 
has  to  hunt  up  seed ;  peppers  are  pulled  off  from  the  ceiling 
and  eviscerated ;  drawers  are  ransacked  for  the  bag  of  ra- 
dish seed  or  the  paper  of  lettuce  seed ;  the  old  broken 
pitcher  is  taken  from  its  long  seclusion  on  the  top  of  the 
cupboard  and  emptied  of  its  beans  and  peas ;  withal  a  few 
Honor  seeds  are  added  to  grace  the  stock — four  o'clocks, 
poppies,  marigolds,  and  touch-me-nots.  Our  gardenwife  is 
not  so  admirable  for  lily  hands  or  fair  face,  or  fairy  form. 
She  cannot  walk  over  dewy  flowers  without  crushing  them, 
as  can  a  true  heroine ;  for  her  specific  gravity  gives  evidence 
of  a  good  constitution,  health  and  habits. 

Her  praise  is,  that  in  a  new  country  where  woman  unques- 
tionably suffers  the  most  of  hardships,  she  is  cheerful,  con- 
tented, industrious,  enterprising,  and,  like  women  the  world 
over,  seeks  to  draw  around  herself  objects  of  taste  and 
beauty  to  decorate  and  cheer  her  husband's  and  her  child- 
ren's home ;  and,  if  necessary,  to  do  it  by  the  field-labor  of 
her  own  hands.  We  could  not  forbear  saying  so  much  of 
tin*  meritorious  gardener  of  more  than  half  the  rural  gar- 
dens in  the  West. 

The  seeds  all  mustered,  she  may  be  seen,  after  the  break- 
fast things  are  all  done  up,  busy  with  spade  and  hoe,  hiding 
her  treasures.  And  thus  she  does  it.  First  a  liberal  suit 
of  onion  beds — savory  vegetables  to  the  tongue  and  most 
unsavory  to  the  nose— making  it  almost  impossible  for  these 
respectable  neighbors  to  live  together  in  peace,  one  or 


200  1  :   MX    AND  PLEASANT  TJLLK 

other  of  them  being  in  bad  odor  with  the  other.  Next,  a 
seed-bed  fUll  of  cabbages — significant  to  the  imagination  of 
cold-slaw,  sourcrout,  etc.  A  good  row  of  peas,  and  a  \\-\v 
hills  of  running  beans  are  added.  The  alleys  arc  ruffled 
with  bush  beans;  a  few  early  potatoes,  some  corn  for  r«>asi- 
rs,  with  a  slender  bed  for  beets,  complete  the  stock 
of  esculents.  But  sage,  and  summer  savory,  and  thyme,  and 
rue,  and  sweet  marjoram,  tansy,  boneset  and  wormwood 
are  attended  to ;  a  part  for  stuffing  ducks  and  chickens — 
and  the  others  for  curing  those  who  have  been  too  much 
stuffed  with  them.  The  garden  yields  in  due  time  its  first 
fruits ;  the  potatoes  come  and  go,  the  corn  is  early  plucked, 
lettuce  shoots  up  its  seed-stalk,  peas  render  their  tribute 
and  grow  sere,  beans  rattle  in  the  pod,  and  before  August 
her  work  is  done  and  her  garden  forsaken  except  a  small 
retinue  of  flowers,  which  are  nursed  to  the  last.  Weeds 
now  make  up  for  lost  time,  and  in  a  few  weeks  a  weedy 
forest  hides  every  trace  of  cultivation.  This  is  not  a  fancy 
sketch ;  we  have  been  far  from  drawing  a  picture  from  the 
worst  specimens ;  it  is  a  fair  average  case. 

Our  business  is,  not  to  quarrel  with  the  farmer,  but  to 
suggest  a  better  plan  for  his  garden.  We  saw  the  plan 
stated  some  years  ago ;  where,  we  have  forgotten,  but  think 
well  of  it.  It  is  simply  this :  let  the  garden  be  an  oblong — 
say  three  times  as  long  as  it  is  broad — and  cultivate  it  with 
the  plow.  Instead  of  having  beds,  let  all  seeds  be  planted 
in  rows  running  the  whole  length  of  the  garden.  For 
example,  begin  with  one  row  of  beets — or  more  if  wanted  ; 
next  a  row  or  rows  of  carrots,  parsnips,  cabbages,  potatoes, 
corn,  and  all  about  three  feet  apart.  The  same  system 
should  be  followed  for  small  fruits — currants,  gooseberries, 
strawberries,  raspberries,  etc. — and  it  will  have  this  advan- 
tage over  common  gardens,  that  the  bushes  will  have  sun 
and  air  on  all  sides,  and  be  more  fruitful  and  more  healthy 
for  it.  The  whole  garden,  thus  arranged,  can  be  kept  in 
order  with  very  little  labor.  A  single-horse  plow  will  dress 


ABOUT  FRUITS,    FLOWERS   AND   FARMING.  201 

between  the  rows  of  the  whole  garden  in  a  very  little  time 
and  save  all  hand-hoeing.  The  hand-weeding  in  the  row 
may  be  performed  by  women  or  children. 

In  large  towns  ground  is  scarce  and  labor  abundant. 
Gardens,  therefore,  are  properly  laid  out  for  economy  of 
space.  In  the  country  the  reverse  is  true ;  land  is  abundant 
but  labor  scarce  and  dear ;  of  course  gardens  should  be  laid 
out  not  to  save  room,  but  to  economize  labor.  The  plan 
suggested  will  save  labor,  improve  the  garden,  and  take 
from  the  wife  the  drudgery  of  the  spade  and  hoe. 


EARLY     DAYS     OF    SPRING. 

IF  the  soil  be  thrown  up  during  the  open  weather  into 
ridges,  an  immense  number  of  insects  will  be  unburrowed 
and  destroyed;  stiff  clayey  soils  will  be  rendered  more 
crumbling  and  mellow  by  exposure  to  frost.  If  advantage 
is  taken  of  the  weather  to  haul  manure,  let  it  be  stacked  up, 
and  a  little  earth  thrown  over  it,  else  the  volatile  and  most 
valuable  portions  will  escape.  Ashes  may  be  spread  over 
the  garden ;  a  small  portion  of  refuse  salt  will  benefit  the 
ground,  and  may  be  sown  now.  Clear  the  ground  of  all 
vines,  stalks,  haulm.  If  you  have  flowering  bulbs,  cover 
slightly  with  coarse  manure — they  will  not  be  so  much  tried 
by  the  changes  of  temperature  and  moisture,  and  will 
flower  stronger  for  it.  Bright,  dry  days  afford  a  fine  tune 
for  going  to  the  woods  and  cutting  poles  for  your  beans, 
stakes  for  your  trees  and  dahlias,  brush  for  peas,  etc. 
While  you  are  about  it,  collect  moss  from  old  logs,  and  put 
away  in  the  barn  or  shed  to  cover  the  ground  in  summer 
where  roses  and  shrubs  have  been  newly  set  out,  and 
require  to  be  kept  moist.  If  not  done  before,  put  two  or 
three  forks  full  of  coarse  green  manure  about  tender  shrubs 

9* 


202  PLAIN  AND  PLEASANT  TALK 

— Noisette  and  China  roses.  Freezing  and  thawing  at  the 
crown  of  tlu«  roots,  destroys  them  ofleuer  than  anything 
else. 

On  mild  days  when  the  earth  is  open,  sow  lettuce  sec'-l  in 
a  warm  corner,  beat  it  gently  with  the  back  of  the  shovel, 
and  cover  it  slightly  with  fine  earth  or  old  crumbling 
manure.  You  will  have  lettuce  ten  days  earlier  for  your 
trouble.  Pepper-grass  and  radishes  may  be  sowed  in  like 
manner. 

C^T"  Let  alone  the  knife  and  saw.  Your  vines  and  trees 
will  not  be  benefited  by  any  pruning  at  this  season. 


•  PARLOR    FLOWERS. 

WATER  freely  such  as  are  in  pots,  while  in  blossom. 
The  flower  stalks  will  be  apt  to  shoot  up  taller  and  weaker 
than  in  the  garden,  and  will  require  rods  to  support  them. 
Let  the  rod  be  thrust  down  about  two  inches  from  the  cen- 
tre of  the  flower,  and  attach  the  flower  stem  to  it  by  one 
or  two  ligaments.  Flowers  in  small  stove  rooms  can 
be  kept  in  health  with  extreme  difficulty.  The  heat  forces 
their  growth,  or  injures  the  leaves.  They  should  be 
washed  off  once  a  week  (either  on  a  mild  day  out  of  doors, 
or  in  a  warm  room  within,  if  the  weather  be  severe),  as  the 
dust  settles  upon  the  leaf,  and  stops  up  the  stomata 
(mouths)  by  which  the  leaf  perspires  and  breathes.  If 
green  aphides  infest  them,  put  a  pan  of  coals  beneath  the 
stand,  and  throw  on  a  half-handful  of  coarse  tobacco.  In 
half  an  hour  every  insect  will  tumble  off.  Let  such  as  lie 
on  the  surface  of  the  earth  be  removed  or  crushed,  as  tlu-y 
will  else  revive.  Plants  should  have  fresh  air  every  day. 


4BOUT   FRUITS,    FLOWERS   AND   FARMING.  203 

A    SALT     RECIPE. 

THERE  is  a  great  fashion,  now-a-days,  in  all  papers,  to 
set  forth  useful  recipes  for  every  imaginable  purpose. 
Every  newspaper  has  its  weekly  budget  of  recipes.  Our 
magazines  have  a  page  of  original  recipes;  and,  before 
long,  why  should  not  the  North  American  Review,  or  the 
Edinburgh  Review  come  out  with  their  quarterly  bill  of 
fare  reciped  in  full  ?  So  practical  is  our  nineteenth  cen- 
tury, that  our  literary  men  and  women  feel  it  to  be  a  solemn 
duty  to  indite  novel  recipes  for  cooking,  seasoning,  remov- 
ing stains,  curing  diseases,  etc.;  and  why  not?  If  one  can 
invent  a  sonnet,  an  elegy,  or  worse  yet,  a  poem,  and  thus 
draw  people's  brains  a  wool-gathering  in  the  regions  of 
imagination,  ought  they  not  to  atone  for  their  license  by  an 
invention  equally  substantial  for  the  body?  Miss  Leslie 
writes  a  beautiful  story,  and  a  recipe  for  manipulating 
lobsters.  Miss  Martineau  writes  travels,  political  econo- 
mies and  suggestions  on  plum  pudding.  Mrs.  Sigourney 
tunes  her  lyre  with  a  hand  most  redolent  of  pies,  cakes  and 
gingerbread.  Such  is  the  aspect  of  culinary  affairs,  and 
the  rights  of  women,  that  the  day  seems  at  hand  when  no 
learning  will  sustain  a  man,  and  no  accomplishments  a 
woman,  who  does  not  understand  the  art  and  mystery  of 
cooking.  It  will  be  the  duty  of  some  future  Heyne  to  give 
accurate  recipes  for  all  the  feasts  of  Homer's  heroes,  the 
ingredients  of  all  the  Horacian  drinking-bouts — the  dishes 
of  Virgil's  fine  fellows,  as  well  as  the  minor  matters  of 
armor,  language,  manners,  and  customs ;  and  a  good  lexi- 
con, Hebrew,  Greek,  or  Latin,  must  contain  clrarly  written 
recipes  for  all  the  dishes  used  by  the  people  whoso  lan- 
guage it  sets  forth.  We  have  been  lc<l  into  this  grand 
prairie  of  reflections  by  a  recipe  found  in  a  country  paper 
which  uiujiirstionalily  is  tn/lfy. 

U!NDIAN  BAKKD   lYnniNo. — Indian  pudding  is  good  and 
wholesome,  baked.     Scald  a  quart  of  milk,  and  stir  in  sevew 


204  PLAIN   AND    PLEASANT  TALK 

table  spoonfuls  of  salt,  a  tea-cupful  of  molasses,  and  a  great 
spoonful  of  ginger,  or  sifted  cinnamon.     Bake  three  or  four 
hours.     If  you  want  whey  you  must  be  sure  and  pour  in  a, 
little  cold  milk,  after  it  is  all  mixed.     Try  it." 
It'  Misses  Leslie,  Childs,  etc.,  refuse  to  mother  such  a 
B,  with  no  Indian  meal  in  it,  but  seven  mortal  spoon- 
fuls of  salt,  then  we  will  consider  it  as  emanating  from  Lot's 
wife.     We  are  sure  if  one  should  eat  many  such  puddings, 
he  would  speedily  come  to  her  estate. 


CULTURE     OF     CELERY. 

WE  know  of  no  vegetable  which  requires  more  care  and 
skill  in  its  cultivation,  from  beginning  to  end,  than  celery. 
An  inexperiened  hand  will  be  apt  to  fail  in  planting  his  seed, 
fail  in  preparing  the  trenches,  and  fail  in  earthing  up  the 
plants  and  bleaching  them.  And  yet,  celery  is  so  generally 
a  favorite  that  every  family  desires  it,  and  every  gardener 
is  willing  to  cultivate  it. 

SEED  SOWING. — The  seed  is  exceedingly  slow  in  germi- 
nation, arfd,  if  not  assisted  artificially,  will  lie  three  and 
sometimes  four  weeks  without  sprouting.  We  soak  the 
seed  in  water,  (a  solution  of  oxalic  acid  would  be  much 
better),  for  twenty-four  hours:  turn  off  the  water,  and  then 
add  and  stir  up  a  few  handfuls  of  sand,  well  moistened,  and 
let  the  seed  stand  in  a  stove  room  or  other  warm  place,  for 
two  or  three  days.  The  sand  will  now  be  nearly  dry ;  if  it 
be  not,  add  dry  sand  to  it  until  it  is  perfectly  powdery, 
and  can  be  sown  without  fulling  in  lumps.  Besides  hasten- 
ing its  germination,  mixing  the  seed  with  sand  ena- 
bles the  operator  to  sow  it  with  greater  facility  and 
evenness.  Select  a  shaded  spot,  let  the  earth  l>e  rich, 
rather  inclined  to  moisture,  and  perfectly  mellow.  Sow 


ABOUT  FRUITS,   FLOWERS  AND   FARMING.  205 

the  seed  broadcast,  and  cover  very  thinly  by  sifting  over  it 
finely  pulverized  mold.  Beat  the  bed  gently  with  the  back 
of  the  spade  to  settle  the  earth  firmly  about  the  seed. 
Don't  fear  that  the  seed  will  be  troubled  by  beating ;  every 
seed  should  have  the  earth  pressed  to  it  by  a  smart  stroke  of 
the  hoe,  hand,  spade,  or  by  the  pressure  of  a  roller.  If  the 
weather  is  exceedingly  warm  and  dry,  cover  your  seed-bed 
with  matting  or  old  carpet,  to  retain  the  moisture.  When 
up  let  them  be  well  weeded,  until  they  are  six  inches  high, 
when  they  are  to  be  removed  to  the  trench  for  blanching. 

FIRST  TRANSPLANTING. — The  process  here  detailed  may  be 
wholly  omitted  by  those  who  are  obliged  to  economize  time 
and  labor.  But  those  who  wish  to  do  the  very  best  that 
can  be  done — who  wish  to  avoid  spindling,  weak  plants, 
and  secure  strong  and  vigorous  ones — transplant  their 
celery  to  a  level  bed  of  very  rich  soil,  placing  the  plants 
four  inches  apart  every  way.  They  are  cultivated  here  for 
about  five  weeks,  when  they  will  have  attained  a  robust 
habit,  or,  technically,  they  will  have  became  stocky — for 
which  purpose  they  were  thus  transplanted. 

CELERY  TRENCHES. — Dig  your  trenches  about  eighteen 
inches  wide,  and  one  foot  deep,  laying  a  shovelful  of  dirt 
alternately  on  each  side  of  the  trench,  that  it  may  be  con- 
veniently drawn  in  on  both  sides  when  you  forth  up.  If 
you  are  favored  with  a  very  deep  and  rich  loamy  soil,  such 
as  often  abounds  in  Western  gardens,  you  will  need  little 
or  no  manure.  But  usually  about  four  inches  of  vegetable 
mold  and  very  thoroughly  rotted  manure,  should  be  placed 
in  the  bottom  of  the  trench  and  gently  spaded  in.  No 
part  of  the  culture  is  more  critical  than  manuring.  If  the 
soil  is  slow,  poor,  and  stingy,  the  celery  will  be  dwarfish, 
tough  and  strong.  On  the  other  hand,  if  you  employ  new, 
rank,  fiery  manure,  although  you  will  have  a  vigorous 
growth,  the  stalks  will  be  hollow,  watery,  coarse  and  flavor- 
less. Let  the  manure  be  very  thoroughly  decayed  and 
mixed  half  and  half  with  leaf  or  vegetable  mold. 


206  IM.MN    AND    PLKA8ANTTAI.lv 

Set  tlu-  plants  five  inches  apart,  water  t IK-MI  freely  with  a 
line  rosed  watering  pot,  ami,  if  the  sun  is  tierce,  cover 
the  trenches  daily  from  ten  A.M.  till  even'mi:  with  hoards. 
In  about  a  \\.,k  they  will  begin  to  grow  and  will  need 
no  moro  >hadiiiL;. 

Let  them  alone,  except  to  weed,  until  the  plants  are  from 
twelve  to  fifteen  inches  high — at  which  time  they  are  to  be 
earthed  tip. 

EARTHING  UP. — In  dry  weather,  witli  a  short,  hand-hoe, 
draw  in  the  earth  gently  from  earh  side  and  bring  it  up 
carefully  to  the  stalk.  The  soil  must  be  kept  out  of  the 
plant,  and  it  is  best  for  the  first  and  perhaps  the  second 
time  of  earthing,  to  gather  up  the  leaves  in  the  left  hand, 
and  holding  them  together,  to  draw  the  earth  about  them. 
Fill  in  about  once  in  two  weeks,  and  always  when  the  plants 
are  dry.  When  the  trench  is  full,  the  process  is  still  to  go 
on,  and  at  the  close  of  the  season  your  plants  will  be 
exactly  reversed — instead  of  standing  in  a  trench  they  will 
top  out  from  a  high  ridge. 

SAVING  CELERY  IN  WINTER. — Three  ways  may  be  men- 
tioned. Letting  it  stand  hi  the  trench — in  which  case  it 
should  be  covered  with  long  straw  and  boards  so  laid  over 
it  that  it  will  be  protected  from  the  wet,  which  is  supposed 
to  be  more  prejudicial  to  it  than  mere  cold. 

The  Boston  market  gardeners  dig  it  late  in  autumn,  trim 
off  the  fibrous  roots,  cut  off  the  top,  lay  it  for  two  days 
in  an  airy  shed,  turning  it,  say  twice  a  day,  and  then  pack 
it  in  layers  of  perfectly  dry  sand,  in  a  barrel.  After  laying 
two  days  to  air  it  goes  into  the  barrel  much  wilted,  hut 
regains  its  plumpness,  and  comes  out  as  fresh  as  from  the 
trench. 

Lastly,  it  may  be  put  in  rows  on  the  cellar  bottom,  with- 
out trimming,  and  earth  heaped  up  about  it.  Set  a  plank 
at  an  angle  of  forty-five  degrees  and  hank  up  the  eart-h 
against  it,  set  a  n,\v  of  roots  and  cover  them  with  dirt, 
then  another  row  and  so  on. 


ABOUT  FRUITS,    FLOWERS    AND   FARMING.  207 

Solid  celery  is  not  a  particular  variety — any  celery  is  solid 
\vhen  properly  grown — and  if  grown  too  rankly  the  most 
celery  in  the  world  will  be  hollow. 

\\\-  have  seen  it  recommended  to  water  the  trenches  once 
or  twice  during  the  season  with  a  weak  brine  of  salt  and 
water.  Besides  the  fertilizing  effect  of  salt,  it  will  have 
the  effect  of  retaining  moisture  in  the  soil,  and  what  is  of 
yet  more  moment,  it  destroys  the  parasitical  fungus 
(Puccinca  Jleraclci)  which  attacks  and  rusts  the  plant,  and 
probably  would,  also,  guard  it  against  a  maggot  which  is 
apt  to  infest  and  very  much  injure  it.  There  is  an  insect, 
which,  in  very  dry  weather,  is  apt  to  sting  the  leaf  and  cause 
it  to  wilt.  While  the  dew  is  on  in  the  morning,  sift  lime 
over  the  plants  once  or  twice,  and  it  will  check  the  fly. 

If  any  think  these  directions  too  minute  and  the  process 
vexatious,  they  are  at  liberty  to  try  a  cheaper  method — and 
may,  once  in  a  while,  succeed.  But  a  certain  crop,  year  by 
year,  cannot  be  expected  without  exact  and  very  careful 
cultivation.  We  have  learned  this  by  sorrowful  expe- 
rience. 

The  main  crop  of  celery  need  not  be  placed  in  the 
trenches  until  the  middle  of  July  or  the  first  of  August. 
It's  greatest  growth  will  be  in  the  fall  months. 


SEEDLING  TREES. — Many  trees  which  are  entirely  hardy 
when  grown,  are  very  tender  during  the  first  and  second 
winters.  Cover  them  with  straw,  refuse  garden  gatherings, 
leaves,  etc.  Sometimes  it  is  best  to  raise  them  and  lay 
them  in  by  the  heels,  by  which  those  gardeners  designate 
the  operation  of  laying  trees  in  trenches  or  excavations, 
and  covering  the  roots  and  a  considerable  portion  of  the 
stems.  This  will  not  be  extra  labor  in  all  cases  when  the 
young  trees  are  to  be  reset,  at  any  rate,  the  second  year 
in  nursery  rows. 


208  PLAIN   AND   PLEASANT  TALK 


CULTURE    OF  PIE-PLANT. 

BEGINNERS  should  in  all  cases,  if  possible,  obtain  a  supply 
of  plants,  from  a  proved  sort,  by  dividing  the  root,  liaising 
from  seed  is  an  after,  and  an  amateur  practice.  The  first 
object  with  every  man  is  to  supply  his  family  with  this 
esculent,,  and  not  to  experiment  with  new  sorts.  Let  him 
buy  or  beg  from  garden  or  nursery,  enough  buds  to  estab- 
lish a  bed,  of  some  kind  already  known  to  be  good. 

The  best  season  of  the  year  for  dividing  the  root  is  in  the 
spring ;  the  next  best  is  in  late  autumn ;  and  the  worst  in 
midsummer — as  we  have  abundantly  ascertained  by  experi- 
ment. The  reason  is  plain.  Like  bulbs,  and  tubers,  the 
root  of  the  pie-plant  stores  up  in  itself  during  one  season,  a 
supply  of  organizable  matter  enough  to  enable  it  to  start 
off  the  next  season,  without  any  dependence  upon  the  soil. 
Dahlias,  potatoes,  onions,  turnips,  cabbages,  etc.,  it  is  well 
known,  are  able  to  grow  for  a  considerable  time,  in  the 
spring,  without  any  connection  with  the  soil ;  being 
sustained  by  that  supply  which  they  had  treasured  up 
within  themselves  the  previous  autumn.  When  this  is 
exhausted,  they  will  die,  if  they  have  not  been  put  in  con- 
nection with  food  from  without.  When  pie-plant  is  divided 
in  the  spring,  it  is  full  of  the  material  of  life,  and  a  bud  cut 
off  from  the  main  root  with  a  portion  of  the  root  attached, 
has  a  supply  of  food  until  new  roots  are  emitted,  which  in 
good  soil  and  weather  will  be  in  about  a  week.  There  is 
the  same  vitality  in  autumn,  and  the  only  reason  why  it  is 
not  so  good  for  transplanting  as  spring,  is  the  risk  that  the 
buds  and  roots  will  rot  off  during  the  winter.  A  uniform 
winter  will  scarcely  injure  one  in  a  hundred,  but  constant 
changes,  freezing  and  thawing,  will  weaken,  if  not  destroy 
many  of  them.  When,  however,  it  is  necessary  to  divide 
and  transplant  in 'the  fall,  cover  the  bed  full  four  inches 
deep  with  coarse,  strong  manure.  Although  great  care 
will  enable  one  to  transplant  a  section  of  the  root  in  mid- 


ABOUT  FRUITS,    FLOWERS   AND   FARMING.  209 

summer,  yet  we  have  found  that  when  no  more  attention  is 
paid  than  in  spring,  nine  plants  are  lost  out  of  ten.  The 
reason  is  obvious.  There  is  no  reserved  treasure  of  sap  in 
the  root  in  summer,  such  as  gives  it  vitality  in  spring  or 
autumn.  If  for  any  reason  we  must  take  up  a  root  in 
summer,  let  every  possible  fibre  be  saved,  the  plant  well 
watered  and  sheltered  until  it  begins  to  grow  again. 

RAISING  FROM  SEED. — The  origination  of  new  varieties 
of  fruits,  flowers  and  esculent  vegetables  is  one  of  the 
greatest  rewards  of  gardening.  Almost  every  seed  of  the 
pie-plant  will  produce  a  variety.  We  have  thought  our- 
selves repaid  for  trouble  if  one  in  fifty  seedling  plants  were 
worth  saving.  It  requires  a  full  two  years'  trial  to  improve 
a  sort.  Of  fifty  plants,  say  twenty-five  may  be  rejected 
peremptorily  the  first  season,  the  petioles  being  mere  wires. 
Of  the  other  twenty-five,  one  or  two  will  give  great  promise, 
and  the  others  will  be  doubtful.  Let  them  be  transplanted 
in  the  spring  of  the  second  season,  into  very  mellow,  rich, 
deep  loam,  full  three  feet  apart  every,  way,  and  here  they 
may  stand  until  the  owner  is  fully  satisfied,  by  the  trial  of 
one  or  more  seasons,  which  are  good  and  which  inferior. 
In  marking  seedling  plants,  the  cultivator  should  bear  in 
mind  that  there  are  two  kinds  required,  viz.  a  very  early 
sort,  and  one  for  the  later  and  mam  supply.  If  a  plant  has 
small  stalks,  and  is  late  too,  reject  it  of  course.  If  it  be 
very  early,  it  may  be  valuable  even  if  quite  small.  Some 
sorts  are  fit  for  plucking  five  or  six  weeks  before  others ; 
we  have  a  variety  which  comes  forward  almost  the  moment 
the  frost  leaves  the  ground  in  the  spring,  or  in  warm  spells 
in  winter. 

In  selecting  a  late  sort  from  your  seedlings,  several 
qualities  must  be  consulted.  The  plant  should  manifest  an 
indisposition  to  go  to  seed  ;  should  be  apt  to  throw  out  an 
abundance  of  leaves,  to  supply  those  taken  off;  the  petioles 
should  be  large ;  the  meat  rich  and  substantial.  There  is 
great  difference  between  one  sort  and  another  in  the 


210  PLAIN   AND   PLEASANT  TALK 

amount  of  sugar  required,  in  the  delicacy  of  flavor,  and  in 
the  property  of  stewing  to  :i  pulp,  \\ithout  wasting  aNvav. 

A  good  variety  of  pie-plant,  then,  should  be  a  vigorous 
grower,  prolific,  large  in  the  stalk,  not  apt  to  flower,  of  a 
>p  rightly  acid  without  any  earthy  or  woody  taste,  not  stew- 
ing away  more  than  one-third  when  cooked,  and  not  requir- 
ing too  much  sugar. 

We  have  observed  in  our  trials  that  seedlings  having 
smooth  leaves,  with  the  upper  surface  varnished  mid  glossy, 
are  seldom  good ;  while  every  plant  which  we  have  thought 
worth  keeping,  had  the  upper  surface  of  its  leaves  of  a 
deep,  dull,  lack-lustre  green. 

FORMATION  OF  A  BED. — Select  a  strong  and  rich  loam 
Let  it  be  spaded  full  two  feet  deep.  If  the  subsoil  has 
never  been  worked,  and  is  clay,  or  gravel,  a  large  supply  of 
old  manure  should  be  mixed  with  it.  Our  working-method 
is  this:  Mark  off  the  square,  begin  on  one  side,  lay  out  a 
full  spadeful  of  the  top-soil  clear  across  the  bed  ;  lay  four  or 
five  inches  of  manure  in  the  trench,  and  then  spade  it  down 
a  full  twelve  inches  deep ;  beginning  again  by  the  side  of  the 
first  trench,  put  the  top-soil  of  the  second  into  the  first ;  add 
manure  and  spade  as  before  ;  and  so  across  the  bed.  The 
surface-soil  thrown  out  of  the  first  trench  may  be  wheeled 
down  and  put  into  the  last  one.  This  process  wrill  leave 
the  bed  much  higher  than  it  was ;  let  it  stand  one  or  two 
weeks  to  settle.  If  the  bed  is  prepared  in  autumn  it  will 
be  better,  and  in  the  spring  it  may  be  half-spaded  again 
before  planting. 

Mark  out,  by  line,  rows  three  feet  apart,  and  set  your 
plants  in  the  rows  three  feet  fi$>m  plant  to  plant,  if  of 
the  large  kind,  and  two  feet,  if  of  the  small.  Very  largt* 
varieties  require  four  feet  every  way.  The  buds  should  be 
left  just  below  the  surface  of  the  soil. 

AFTER  CULTURE. — Through  the  summer  keep  the  surface 
mellow  and  free  from  weeds.  In  the  fall  of  the  year,  when 
the  leaves  show  signs  of  falling,  form  a  compost  heap  of 


ABOUT  FRUITS,   FLOWERS   AND   FARMING.  211 

fine  charcoal,  if  you  can  get  it  from  blacksmith's  or  else- 
where, vegetable  mold,  ashes,  and  very  old  manure.  Spread 
and  spade  in  a  good  coat  of  this,  spading  lightly  near  to  the 
plants  and  deeply  between  them.  When  frost  destroys  the 
tops  wholly,  cover  the  bed  with  coarse,  strong  manure 
about  four  inches  deep,  smooth  it  down,  and  let  it  remain 
thus.  The  next  spring  stir  the  surface  smartly  with  a  rake, 
and  no  further  care  will  be  required  except  to  pluck  out  any 
weeds  that  grow  through  the  summer. 

GATHERING. — Leaves  are  constantly  springing  from  the 
centre.  Of  course  the  full-grown  ones  will  be  on  the  out- 
side. These  should  be  harvested,  leaving  the  inside  ones 
to  mature.  By  going  regularly  over  your  bed,  and  taking 
in  turn  the  outside  leaves,  a  bed  may  be  used  till  July  with- 
out the  slightest  injury.  Other  fruit,  after  that  time, 
usually  displaces  pie-plant  and  leaves  it  to  rest  the 
remainder  of  the  year.  The  leaf-stalks  should  not  be  cut 
off.  Slide  the  hand  down  as  near  as  possible  to  the  root, 
and  give  the  stalk  a  backward  and  sidewise  wrench  and  it 
will  be  detached  at  a  joint  or  articulation,  and  no  stump 
will  be  left  to  rot  and  injure  the  root — we  usually  cut  off 
the  leaves  on  the  spot,  leaving  them  about  the  root,  both 
for  shade  to  the  ground  and  for  manure. 


PRESERVE  TOUR  POT-PLANTS. — We  warn  ladies  having 
pot-plants  designed  for  winter-wear,  to  be  prudent  before 
hand,  or  some  frosty  night  will  cut  every  tender  plant  left 
out,  and  then  prudence  will  be  good  for  nothing.  Every 
one  who  pretends  to  keep  parlor  plants  should  own  a 
thermometer.  If  at  sundown  or  at  nine  o'clock  it  stands 
anywhere  near  forty  degrees,  your  plants  are  in  danger. 
Sometimes  it  will  fall,  in  one  night,  from  fifty  degrees  to 
below  thirty-two  degrees,  which  last  is  the  freezing  point. 


212  PLAIN  AND   PLEASANT  TALK 


SUN-FLOWER    SEED. 

To  some  extent  this  is  likely  to  become  a  profitable  crop. 
Medium  lands  will  yield,  on  an  average,  fifty  bushels; 
while  first-rate  lands  will  yield  from  seventy  to  :\  hundred 
1'iishels. 

MODE  OF  CULTIVATION. — The  ground  is  prepared  in  all 
respects  as  for  a  corn  crop,  and  the  seed  sown  in  drills  four 
feet  apart — one  plant  to  every  eighteen  inches  in  the  drill. 
It  is  to  be  plowed  and  tended  in  all  respects  like  a  crop  of 
corn. 

HARVESTING. — As  the  heads  ripen,  they  are  gathered, 
laid  on  a  barn  floor  and  threshed  with  a  flail.  The  seed 
shells  very  easily. 

USE. — The  seed  may  be  employed  in  fattening  hogs,  feed- 
ing poultry,  etc.,  and  for  this  last  purpose  it  is  better  than 
grain.  But  the  seed  is  more  valuable  at  the  oil-mill  than 
elsewhere.  It  will  yield  a  gallon  to  the  bushel  without 
trouble ;  and  by  careful  working,  more  than  this.  Hemp 
yields  one  and  a  fourth  gallons  to  the  bushel,  and  flax-seed 
one  and  a  half  by  ordinary  pressure ;  but  two  gallons  under 
the  hydraulic  press. 

The  oil  has,  as  yet,  no  established  market  price.  It  will 
range  from  seventy  cents  to  a  dollar,  according  as  its  value 
shall  be  established  as  an  article  for  lamps  and  for  painters' 
use.  But  at  seventy  cents  a  gallon  for  oil,  the  seed  would 
command  fifty-five  cents  a  bushel,  which  is  a  much  higher 
price  than  can  be  had  for  corn. 

It  is  stated,  but  upon  how  sufficient  proof  we  know  not, 
that  sun-flower  oil  is  excellent  for  burning  in  lamps.  It  has 
also  been  tried  by  our  painters  to  some  extent;  and  for 
inside  work,  it  is  said  to  be  as  good  as  linseed  oil.  Mr. 
Hannaman,  who  has  kindly  put  us  in  possession  of  these 
facts,  says,  that  the  oil  resembles  an  animal,  rather  than 
a  vegetable  oil ;  that  it  has  not  the  varnish  properties 
of  the  linseed  oil.  We  suppose  by  varnish  is  meant, 


ABOUT  FRUITS,   FLOWERS   AND   FARMING.  213 

the  albumen  and  mucilage  which  are  found  in  vegetable 
oils.  The  following  analysis  of  hemp-seed,  and  flax-seed,  or 
as  it  is  called  in  England  lint  or  linseed,  will  show  the 
proportions  of  various  ingredients  in  one  hundred  parts. 

Hemp-seed.  Linseed. 

(Bucholi.)  (Leo  Meier.) 

Oil, 19.1  11.3 

Husk,  etc 88.3  44.4 

Woody  fibre  and  starch, 5.0  1.5 

Sugar,  etc 1.6  10.8 

Gum, 9.0  7.1 

Soluble  albumen  (Casein  ?) 24.7  15.1 

Insoluble  do —  3.7 

Wax  and  resin, 1.6  8.1 

Loss, 0.7  8.0 

100  100 

The  existence  of  impurities  in  oil,  such  as  mucilage,  albu- 
men, gum,  etc.,  which  increase  its  value  to  the  painter,  dimin- 
ishes its  value  for  the  lamp,  since  these  substances  crust  or 
cloy  the  wick,  and  prevent  a  clear  flame.  All  oils  may, 
therefore,  the  less  excellent  they  are  for  painting,  be  regarded 
as  the  more  valuable  for  burning.  Rape-seed  is  extensively 
raised  in  Europe,  chiefly  in  Flanders,  for  its  oil,  and  is 
much  used  for  burning.  Ten  quarts  may  be  extracted 
from  a  bushel  of  seed.  "We  append  a  table  represent- 
ing the  richness  of  various  seeds,  etc.,  in  oil. 

Oil  per  ceok 

Linseed  (flax) 11  to  22 

Hemp-seed, 14  to  25 

Rape-seed, 40  to  70 

Poppy-seed, 36  to  33 

White  mustard-seed, 86  to  48 

Black  mustard-seed, 15 

Swedish  turnip-seed, 34 

Sun-flower  seed, 15 

Walnut  kernels 40  to  70 


214  I'LADT   AND   PLEASANT  TALK 

Hazel-nut  kernels, 60 

Beech-nut  kernels, •  15  to  17 

Plum-stone  do 83 

Sweet  almond  kernels, 40  to  64 

Bitter    do.         do . .  28  to  46 


APRIL    GARDEN-WORK. 

EVERY  one  will  now  be  at  work  in  the  garden.  A  few 
suggestions  may  make  your  garden  better. 

PLOWING  GARDENS. — We  do  nol  like  the  practice  except 
when  the  garden  is  large,  and  the  owner  unable  to  meet 
the  expense  of  spading.  But  if  you  must  plow,  let  that  be 
well  done.  Those  contemptible  little  one-horse  plows,  with 
which  most  gardens  are  plowed,  should  be  discarded.  The 
best  plowing  will  be  too  shallow,  but  these  spindling  little 
plows,  drawn  by  a  little  meagre  horse,  will  skim  over  your 
ground,  averaging  from  three  to  four  inches  deep,  and  pre- 
paring your  soil  to  receive  the  utmost  possible  detriment 
from  summer  droughts.  What  chance  have  young  roots, 
or  the  finer  fibres  of  plants,  to  penetrate  more  than  a  few 
inches  of  surface-soil  ?  Persons  come  to  our  garden  and 
wonder  why  some  vegetables  flourish  so  well,  while  they 
never  have  luck  with  them,  "It  must  be  a  difference  of 
soil."  No,  it  is  the  difference  of  working  it.  Give  your 
vegetables  a  chance  to  descend  eighteen  or  twenty  inches 
if  they  incline  to  it,  and  you  will  have  no  more  trouble.  A 
large  plow  should  be  used,  and  you  should  stand  by  and 
see  that  it  is  put  in  to  the  beam.  A  garden  soil  is  usually 
mellow,  and  a  plow  can  go  to  its  full  depth  without  hurting 
the  horses. 

SPADING. — This  mode  of  working  the  ground  will  always 
be  employed  by  those  ambitious  of  having  a  first-rate  gar- 
den. Indeed,  where  there  is  much  shrul»l»rry  and  ju-nna- 
beds,  as  of  asparagus,  pie-plant,  strawberry,  and  plant- 


ABOUT  FRUITS,   FLOWERS   AND   FARMING.  215 

ations  of  currants,  raspberries,  etc.,  spading  is  the  only 
method  which  can  be  employed. 

SPADING  SHRUBBERY. — Let  very  fine  manure  be  spread 
about  roses,  honeysuckles,  and  ornamental  shrubs  (where 
they  are  not  standing  in  a  grass-lawn).  Beginning  at  the 
plant,  with  great  care  turn  over  the  soil  one  or  two  inches 
deep,  yet  so  as  not  to  injure  the  fibres ;  gradually  deepen 
the  stroke  of  your  spade  as  you  go  out  from  the  plant ;  at 
two  feet  from  the  shrub  you  may  put  in  the  spade  half  its 
depth,  and  at  three  feet  to  its  full  depth.  You  will  of 
course  cut  many  roots,  but  they  will  very  soon  re-form  and 
send  out  fibres,  and  by  the  manure  spaded  in,  be  supplied 
with  abundant  nourishment  for  the  season. 

SPADING  FLOWER  BEDS. — This  requires  a  practised  hand. 
There  is  danger  of  wounding  and  displacing  clumps  of 
flower-roots,  or  of  filling  the  crowns  with  dirt,  or  of  leaving 
the  surface  uneven,  and  the  edges  ragged.  If  there  is  a 
skillful  gardener  to  be  had,  hire  it  done,  and  watch  while 
he  performs,  for  any  man  who  has  seen  a  thing  done  in  a 
garden  once,  ought  to  be  ashamed  if  he  cannot  himself  do 
it  afterwards. 

SPADING  VEGETABLE  BEDS. — Asparagus,  pie-plant,  straw- 
berries, etc.,  require  enriching  every  year,  and  to  have  the 
iiiai Hire  forked  or  spaded  in.  It  is  easy  to  perform  this 
upon  strawberries,  and  a  spade  is  preferable.  A  three  or 
four-pronged  fork  is  better  for  asparagus  and  pie-plant.  Be 
careful  not  to  tear  or  cut  the  crowns  of  the  plants.  No 
material  injury  ensues  from  clipping  the  side  fibres,  in  the 
spring"  in  summer,  when  a  plant  requires  all  its  mouths  to 
supply  sap  for  its  extended  surface  of  leaf,  it  is  not  wise  to 
cut  the  roots  or  fibres  ut  all,  but  only  to  keep  the  surface 
mellow  and  friable. 

DEEP  SPADING. — Ames'  garden-spades  measure  twelve 
inches  in  length  of  blade.  In  a  good  soil  the  foot  may  gain 
one  or  two  additional  inches  by  a  good  thrust.  Thus  the 
soil  is  mellowed  to  the  depth  of  fourteen  inches.  This  will 


216  PLAIN   AND  PLEASANT  TALK 

do  very  well ;  but  if  you  aspire  to  do  the  very  best,  another 
course  must  be  first  pursued.  The  first  spadeful  must  be 
thrown  out,  and  a  second  depth  gained,  and  then  the  top 
soil  returned.  This  is  comparatively  slow  and  laborious, 
but  it  need  not  be  done  more  than  once  hi  five  years,  and 
by  dividing  the  garden  into  sections,  and  performing  this 
thorough-spading  on  one  of  the  sections  each  year,  the  pro- 
cess will  be  found,  practically,  less  burdensome  than  it  seems 
to  be. 


GETTING  POOR   ON    RICH    LAND   AND  RICH  ON    POOR  LAND. 

A  CLOSE  observer  of  men  and  things  told  us  the  follow- 
ing little  history,  which  we  hope  will  plow  very  deeply  into 
the  attention  of  all  who  plow  very  shallow  in  their  soils. 

Two  brothers  settled  together  in county.  One  of 

them  on  a  cold,  ugly,  clay  soil,  covered  with  black-jack 
oak,  not  one  of  which  was  large  enough  to  make  a  half 
dozen  rails.  This  man  would  never  drive  any  but  large, 
powerful,  Conastoga  horses,  some  seventeen  hands  high.  He 
always  put  three  horses  to  a  large  plow,  and  plunged  it  in 
some  ten  inches  deep.  This  deep  plowing  he  invariably 
practised  and  cultivated  thoroughly  afterward.  He  raised 
his  seventy  bushels  of  com  to  the  acre. 

This  man  had  a  brother  about  six  miles  off,  settled  on 
a  rich  White  River  bottom-land  farm — and  while  a  black- 
jack clay  soil  yielded  seventy  bushels  to  the  acre,  this  fine 
bottom-land  would  not  average  fifty.  One  brother  was 
steadily  growing  rich  on  poor  land,  and  the  other  steadily 
growing  poor  on  rich  land. 

One  day  the  bottom-land  brother  came  down  to  see  the 
Mark-jack  oak  farmer,  and  they  began  to  talk  about  their 
crops  and  farms,  as  farmers  are  very  apt  to  do. 


ABOUT  FRUITS,   FLOWERS   AND   FARMING.  217 

"How  is  it,"  said  the  first,  "that  you  manage  on  this 
poor  soil  to  beat  me  in  crops  ?" 

They  reply  was  "  I  WORK  my  land." 

That  was  it,  exactly.  Some  men  have  such  rich  land 
that  they  won't  work  it ;  and  they  never  get  a  step  beyond 
where  they  began.  They  rely  on  the  soil,  not  on  labor,  or 
skill,  or  care.  Some  men  expect  their  LANDS  to  work,  and 
some  men  expect  to  WORK  THEIR  LAND  ; — and  th  at  is  just 
the  difference  between  a  good  and  a  bad  farm  er. 

When  we  had  written  thus  far,  and  read  it  to  our  infor- 
mant, he  said,  "  three  years  ago  I  travelled  again  through 
that  section,  and  the  only  good  farm  I  saw  was  this  very 
one  of  which  you  have  just  written.  All  the  others  were 
desolate — fences  down — cabins  abandoned,  the  settlers  dis- 
couraged and  moved  off.  I  thought  I  saw  the  same  old 
stable  door,  hanging  by  one  hinge,  that  used  to  disgust  me 
ten  years  before ;  and  I  saw  no  change  except  for  the  worse 
in  the  whole  county,  with  the  single  exception  of  this  one 
farm." 


GETTING    READY    FOR    WINTER. 

HAUL  tanbark  and  bank  up  around  the  house  to  insure 
a  warm  cellar.  Cellar  windows  should  be  kept  open  through 
the  day,  and  closed  after  the  nights  begin  to  freeze,  as  late 
in  the  season  as  possible.  See  that  dry  walks  are  prepared 
from  the  house  to  all  the  out-houses.  Do  not  be  stingy  of 
your  materials ;  make  the  paths  high  and  rounding,  so  as  to 
insure  dryness,  especially  about  the  barn.  See  that  stones, 
gravel,  or  timber  are  laid  so  as  to  be  out  of  the  way  of  cat- 
tle's feet,  and  just  in  the  way  of  your  own.  We  have  seen 
swamp-barn-yards,  before  going  into  which  a  prudent  man 
would  choose  to  make  his  will.  Mud  on  the  shoes  from 
roads  and  fields  is  all  well  enough ;  but  mud  from  one's  own 

10 


218  PLAIN  AND  PLEASANT  TALK 

yards,  shows  that  the  owner  has  not  fixed  up  as  he  ought 
t<>  have  done. 

It  \ -..in-  sables  are  old,  examine  the  floor;  or  some  night 
may  let  a  horse  through,  to  come  out  lame  for  life.  If  you 
a  dirt  floor,  see  that  it  is  carefully  laid,  and  remember 
that  if  it  be  inclined  cither  way,  it  should  be  from  the  rack 
and  not  toward  it.  Let  your  wagons,  carts,  plows,  etc.,  be 
repaired  during  the  fall  and  winter,  and  not  be  left  till  spring. 
See  that  your  shingles  are  all  sound  on  the  house,  barn, 
and  shed.  The  leak  which  you  have  allowed  to  drop,  drop, 
drop  all  summer  has  at  last  taken  off  a  yard  or  two  of 
planter,  and  it  is  time  now  to  put  on  a  shingle  or  two. 
There  is  another  leak  or  two  that  must  be  stopped.  That 
pocket  of  yours  which  has  let  out  dime  after  dime  for  liquor, 
the  hole  getting  bigger  and  bigger  every  year,  now  is  the 
time  to  sow  it  up,  or  it  will  rip  you  up.  A  pocket  is  a  small 
place,  to  be  sure,  but  we  have  seen  barns,  cattle,  and  acre 
after  acre  slip  through  a  hole  in  it  which,  at  first,  was 
only  large  enough  to  let  sixpence  through. 

See  that  all  your  tools  have  a  safe  and  dry  standing- 
place;  hoes  rakes,  scythes,  sickles,  yokes,  spades,  shovels, 
chains,  pins,  harrows,  plows,  carts,  and  sleds,  axes,  mattocks, 
hammers,  and  everything,  but  your  geese  and  ducks,  should 
be  kept  from  wet  and  snow. 

If  you  have  no  stables  for  your  cattle,  you  should  have 
good  sheds  provided,  opening  to  the  south.  Even  when 
cattle  are  allowed  to  run  through  the  stock-fields,  there 
ought  to  be  in  some  warm  place  an  ample  shed  to  which 
they  can  resort  during  wet  and  cold  weather ;  and  one  suffi- 
ciently snug  can  be  made  without  calling  in  the  carpenter 
or  buying  lumber. 


ABOUT  FRUITS,   FLOWERS   AND   FARMING  219 


ESCULENT    VEGETABLES. 

WE  mention  some  of  the  more  common  kinds  of  garden 
esculent  vegetables,  to  point  out  the  best  kinds,  and  give 
some  hints  for  their  cultivation.  If  more  vegetables  were 
raised  and  eaten  in  the  place  of  meat,  there  would  be  fewer 
diseases,  and  less  expense  for  medicine  than  is  now  the  case 
among  those  who  eat  so  heartily  and  liberally  of  the  fat  of 
the  land. 

BEET. — The  turnip-rooted  blood  beet  should  be  sown  for 
the  earliest  crop ;  the  long  blood  beet  for  the  late  crop,  and 
for  winter  use.  The  blood  beet  is  the  proper  garden  beet. 
The  scarcity r,  the  sugar  beets  (so  called),  white,  yellow,  and 
red,  are  inferior  for  table  use.  Every  year  we  see  accounts 
of  new  varieties,  which  are  seldom  mentioned  a  second 
time,  while  these  old  standard  sorts*  hold  their  own  from 
year  to  year.  We  see  people  running  around  among 
their  neighbors  for  beet-seed,  careless  whether  it  is  early  or 
late,  coarse  fleshed  or  fine  grained,  sweet  or  insipid.  It  is 
just  as  easy  and  cheap  to  have  the  best  seed  of  the  best 
kinds,  as  to  have  refuse  seed  of  worthless  kinds.  Lately,  a 
variety  introduced  from  France,  called  Hassano,  has  at- 
tracted attention  and  commendation.*  It  is  early,  tender, 
and  sweet.  If  you  attempt  to  raise  your  own  seed,  let  only 
one  sort  stand  in  the  garden ;  otherwise  bees  and  other 
insects  will  mix  them,  and  the  purity  of  the  variety  will  be 

*  A  new  variety  called  tne  Bassano  has  been  recently  introduced  into 
France,  and  extensively  cultivated ;  and  it  is  said  to  be  found  in  all  the 
markets  from  Venice  to  Genoa,  in  the  month  of  June.  It  is  remarkable 
for  the  form  of  the  root,  which  is  flattened  like  a  turnip.  The  skin  is 
red,  the  flesh  white,  veined  with  rose.  It  is  very  tender,  very  delicate, 
preserving  its  rose  colored  rings  after  cooking,  and  from  two  to  two 
and  a  half  inches  in  diameter.  This  description  is  from  the  Bon  Jardi- 
nier  for  1841.  The  edition  for  1842  states  that  this  variety  is  highly 
esteemed  in  the  north  of  Italy,  and  that  it  is,  in  fact,  one  of  the  best  kinds 
for  the  table. — ffovey's  Magazine. 


220  PLAIN   AND  PLEASANT  TALK 

lost.  We  very  seldom  sec  an  unmixed  variety  in  common 
pm long,  unless  seed  have  been  bought  from  good  seeds- 
men. 

The  best  seed  is  a  small  black  seed  about  the  size  of  a 
}>in  head,  enveloped  in  a  ragged,  rough,  two  or  thin  ]..lu  .1 
husk.  Every  seeming  seed  planted,  then,  is  a  mere  envel- 
ope of  two  or  more  seeds,  and  two  or  three  plants  come  up, 
very  much  to  the  surprise  of  the  inexperienced,  for  each 
husk.  When  a  little  advanced,  they  are  to  be  thinned  out 
to  one  in  a  place. 

We  prefer  planting  very  early,  and  in  rows  eight  inches 
apart  and  at  about  one  inch  distant  in  the  row.  As  the  plants 
begin  to  gain  size  tltey  make  very  delicate  greens ;  and  for 
this  purpose  are  to  be  boiled,  leaf,  root,  and  all.  Continue 
to  thin  out  until  one  is  left  for  every  six  inches  for  full 
growth. 

Every  year  a  great  ado  is  made  about  monstrous  beets — 
twenty  and  thirty  pounders.  There  is  no  objection  to 
these  giants,  unless  they  beget  an  idea  that  size  is  the  i<-t 
of  merit.  For  table-use,  medium  sized  fruits  and  vegetables 
are  every  way  preferable ;  a  beet  should  never  be  larger 
than  a  goose-egg. 

It  is  equally  foolish  to  suppose  that  large,  coarse-grained 
vegetables,  whether  potatoes,  beets,  parsnips,  rut  a 
anything  else,  are  as  good  for  stock,  though  not  so  palat- 
able to  men.  To  be  sure  they  fill  up.  But  that  whieh  is 
nutriment  to  man  is  nutriment  to  beast ;  a  vegetable  which 
is  rank  and  watery  is  no  better  for  my  cow  than  for  us. 
It  is  not  the  bulk  but  the  quality  that  measures  the  fitness 
of  articles  for  food. 

PABSNIP. — This  vegetable  is,  to  those  who  are  fond  of  it, 
very  desirable,  as  coming  in  at  a  tune  when  other  thin- 
failing.  For,  although  the  parsnip  attains  its  si/.c  1>\ 
autumn,  yet  its  flavor  seems  to  depend  upon  its  reeeh  iiiL:  a 
pretty  good  frosting.  It  may  be  dug  at  open  spells  thmu^h 
the  winter  and  early  in  the  spring.  It  gives  one  of  the 


ABOUT  FRUITS,   FLOWEES   AND   FARMING.  221 

first  indications  of  returning  warmth,  and  its  green  leaves 
:uv  among  the  first  which  cheer  the  garden.  On  this  ac- 
count it  niiivt  be  dug  early  in  the  spring  and  housed,  or  it 
will  spoil  by  growth. 

We  know  of  no  difference  in  varieties.  The  Gruemsey, 
is  not  a  different  sort  from  the  common,  but  only  the  com- 
mon sort,  very  highly  cultivated  in  that  island,  where  it 
sometimes  grows  to  a  length  of  four  feet.  The  hollow- 
crowned  and  Siam  are  mentioned  in  English  catalogues,  as 
fine  fleshed  and  flavored,  but  we  have  never  been  able  to 
obtain  seed  of  them. 

The  parsnip  (Pastinacea  sativa)  is  a  native  of  Great 
Britain  and  is  found  wild  by  the  road-sides,  delighting  par- 
ticularly in  calcareous  soils.  It  has  hitherto  been  supposed 
that  the  seed  would  not  retain  its  germinating  power  more 
than  one  year,  but  Mr.  Mendenhall  states  that  he  has  raised 
freely  from  four  year  old  seed.  The  parsnip  is  much  sown 
as  a  field  crop  at  the  east,  yielding  1,000  bushels,  on  good 
land,  to  the  acre.  They  are  invaluable  both  to  cows 
and  horses.  The  quantity  and  quality  of  milk  in  cows 
is  improved ;  and  no  farmer  with  whom  butter-making  is  a 
considerable  object  of  interest,  should  be  without  a  root 
crop — beet,  carrot,  or  ruta  baga. 

CABROT.  (Daucus  carota). — This  is  a  native  of  Great 
Britain.  The  early  horn  and  Altringham  are  the  best 
varieties  sold  by  our  seedsmen.  Beside  their  use  upon  the 
table,  they  are  largely  and  deservedly  cultivated  hi  the  field 
for  stock.  A  horse  becomes  more  fond  of  them  than  of  oats, 
and  they  do  not,  like  the  potato,  require  boiling  before  tivd 
ing  out.  A  thousand  bushels  may  be  raised  to  the  am-. 
Tlic  premium  of  the  New  York  Agricultural  Society  for  the 
year  1844,  was  to  a  crop  of  1,059  bushels  the  acre. 
The  seed  should  be  new  each  year,  as  it  will  not 
come  well  even  the  second  year,  and  not  at  all  if  kept  yet 
longer. 

RADISH. — Every  garden  has  its  bed  of  radishes,  and  they 


222  PLAIN  AND  PLEASANT  TALK 

are  among  the  first  spring  gifts.  They  will  grow  in  any 
soil,  but  not  in  all  equally  well.  A  mellow  sandy  loam  is 
best ;  or  rather  that  soil  is  best  which  will  grow  them  the 
quickest.  If  they  are  a  long  time  in  growing,  they  are 
tough  and  stringy.  It  is  said  that  a  compost  of  the  follow- 
ing materials  will  produce  them  very  early  and  finely. 
Take  equal  parts  of  buckwheat  bran  and  fresh  horse-dung, 
dig  them  in  plentifully  into  the  soil  where  you  intend  to 
sow.  Within  two  days  a  plentiful  crop  of  toadstools  will 
start  up.  Spade  them  under,  and  sow  your  seed,  and  the 
radishes  will  come  forward  rapidly,  and  be  tender  and  free 
from  worms. 

The  aJwrt-top  scarlet,  is  the  best  for  spring  planting.  It 
is  so  named,  because,  from  its  rapid  growth  the  top  is  yet 
small  when  the  root  is  fit  for  the  table.  There  is  a  white 
and  red  turnip-rooted  variety,  also  good  for  spring  use. 
The  turnip-rooted  kinds  have  not  only  the  shape,  but  some- 
thing of  the  sweetness  and  flavor  of  the  turnip,  and  are  by 
some  preferred  to  all  others.  For  summer  planting,  there 
is  a  yellow  turnip-rooted  sort  and  the  summer  white.  For 
fell  and  early  winter,  the  white  and  black  Spanish  are 
planted.  When  radishes  are  sown  broadcast,  it  must  be 
very  thinly,  for  if  at  all  crowded  they  run  to  top,  and 
refuse  to  form  edible  roots.  For  our  own  use,  we  sow  on 
the  edges  of  beds,  devoted  to  onions,  beets,  etc.,  and  thrust 
each  seed  down  with  the  finger. 

The  radish  (Raphanus  sativus)  is  a  native  of  China,  and 
was  introduced  to  England  before  1584. 

SALSIFY,  OB  VEGETABLE  OYSTER. — We  esteem  this  to  be 
a  much  better  root  for  table  use  than  either  the  parsnip  or 
carrot.  It  is  cultivated  in  all  respects  as  these  crops  are. 
Some  have  been  skeptical  as  to  their  possessing  an  oyster 
flavor.  They  seldom  attain  the  true  taste  until,  like  the 
parsnip,  they  have  been  well  frosted.  But  if  dug  up  dur- 
ing spells  in  winter  and  early  in  the  spring,  and  cooked  by 
an  orthodox  formula,  they  are  strikingly  like  the  oyster. 


ABOUT  FBUITS,   FLOWERS   AND  FARMING.  223 

We  have  just  consulted  the  oracle  of  our  kitchen,  and  give 
forth  the  following  method  of  cooking  it:  First,  oblige 
your  husband  to  raise  a  good  supply  of  them.  When  you 
have  obtained  them,  scrape  off  the  outside  skin — cut  the 
root  lengthwise  into  thin  slices — put  them  into  a  spider  and 
iust  cover  with  hot  water.  Let  them  boil  until  a  fork  will 
hrough  them  easily.  Without  turning  off  the  water, 
season  them  with  butter,  pepper,  and  salt,  and  sprinkle 
in  a  little  flour — enough  to  thicken  the  liquor  slightly.  Then 
eat  them. 

The  success  of  this  gustatory  deception  depends,  more 
than  anything  else,  upon  the  skill  in  seasoning.  If  well  done 
they  are  not  merely  an  apology,  but  they  are  a  very  excel- 
lent substitute  for  the  shell-fish  himself ;  a  thousand  times 
better  than  pickled  can-oysters — those  arrant  libels  upon  all 
that  is  dear  in  the  remembrance  of  a  live  oyster. 

Every  one  may  save  seed  for  himself,  as  it  will  not,  if  well 
cultivated,  degenerate.  It  is  a  biennial,  and  roots  may 
either  be  set  out,  or  left  standing  where  they  were  planted. 
When  the  seed  begins  to  feather  out  it  must  be  immediately 
gathered,  or  like  the  dandelion  or  thistle,  it  will  be  blown 
away  by  the  wind.  This  vegetable  should  be  much  more 
extensively  cultivated  than  it  is. 

BEANS. — There  are  three  kinds — English  dwarf,  kidney 
dwarf  or  string,  and  the  pole  beans.  The  first  kind,  so  far 
as  our  experience  has  gone,  are  coarser  than  the  others, 
and,  in  our  hot  and  dry  summers,  are  very  difficult  to  raise. 

Of  kidney  or  bush  beans,  there  is  a  long  catalogue  of 
sorts.  The  Mohawk  is  good  for  its  hardiness,  enduring 
spring  frosts  with  comparative  impunity.  The  red-speckled 
valentine  is  highly  commended.  But  after  a  trial  of  some 
twenty  kinds,  we  are  entirely  contented  with  one — the 
China  red-eye.  It  is  early,  hardy,  very  prolific,  and  well 
flavored. 

Of  the  pole  beans,  one  sort,  the  Lima,  might  snpi  r 
all  others  were  it  a  little  earlier.     It  is  immensely  prolific  • 


224  PLAIN  AND  PLEASANT  TALK 

N  v>r  unrivalled,  and  nearly  the  same  in  the  dry  bean 
as  when  cooked  in  its  green  state,  a  quality  which  has 
Bever,  |fe  U-lirNr,  lu-m  found  in  any  other  \aru-ly.  To 
sujijily  tin-  deticieney  of  tliis  variety  in  eaiTmess,  we  know 
of  none  equal  to  the  Horticultural.  With  these  two  kinds 
one  has  no  need  of  any  other.  Pole  beans  will  not  bear 
frost,  and  are  among  the  last  seeds  to  be  planted,  seldom 
before  the  last  of  April.  The  bush-bean  may  precede 
them  a  fortnight. 

The  English  dwarf  (Vidafaba)  is  a  native  of  Egypt ;  but 
has  been  cultivated  in  England  from  time  immemorial,  and, 
it  is  supposed,  was  introduced  by  the  Romans. 

The  kidney  dwarf  (Phaseolus  vulgaris)  is  a  native  of 
India,  and  was  introduced  into  England  about  the 
year  1597. 

The  pole  bean  (Phaseolus  multi/loris)  is  a  native  of 
South  America,  and  was  introduced  to  England  in  1633. 

Pole  beans  are  not  strictly  annuals.  In  a  climate  where 
the  winter  does  not  destroy  them  they  bear  au:iin  the 
second  year,  and  we  believe  yet  longer.  Gov.  Pinney, 
of  Liberia,  on  the  African  coast,  stated  in  a  lecture,  speak- 
ing of  the  vegetable  productions  of  that  region,  that  the 
bean  was  a  permanent  vine  like  the  grape,  bearing  its  crops 
from  year  to  year  without  replanting.  The  bush  bean  is 
strictly  an  annual.  If  the  pole  bean  were  protected  in  the 
ground,  or  raised  and  put  away  like  sweet  potatoo, 
dahlias,  etc.,  in  the  cellar  and  replanted  in  the  spring  it 
would  bear  again  the  second  season.  Perhaps  an  earlier 
crop  of  beans  might  thus  be  secured. 

The  bean  crop,  by  field  culture,  is  not  to  be  overlooked. 
Great  quantities  of  dried  beans  are  consumed  by  families, 
by  the  army  and  in  the  navy,  and  they  always  bear  a  good 
price,  when  they  are  well  grown  and  well  cured.  They  an- 
excellent  for  sheep,  not  from  their  fattening  properties,  hut 
for  improving  their  fleece.  Analysis  has  shown  them  to  bo 
rich  in  those  properties  which  aro  "  wool-gathering." 


ABOUT  FRUITS,   FLOWERS   AND  FARMING.  225 


FIELD     ROOT    CROPS 

FROM  mid- winter,  and  especially  just  before  spring  opens, 
beets,  carrots,  parsnips,  potatoes,  ruta  baga,  and  mangel 
wurtzel  are  of  the  highest  utility.  After  months  of  dry 
fodder,  and  of  sloops  thickened  with  corn-meal,  cattle  need — 
their  stomach,  their  blood  need — a  change  of  diet ;  and  none 
can  be  better  than  roots.  At  the  East  it  is  no  longer  a  de- 
batable question — root  crops  are  as  regularly  laid  in  as 
grain  or  grass  crops.  The  chief  difficulty  at  the  East,  in 
introducing  "new-fangled  notions,"  arises  from  the  regular 
routine  habits  of  farmers  and  their  settled  aversion  to  change 
from  old  ways.  Very  little  of  this  spirit  exists  at  the  West. 
Tlu- re  the  very  essence  of  life  is  change.  The  population 
have  broken  up  from  old  homesteads,  moved  off  from  old 
States,  abandoned  the  comforts  and  settled  life  of  long 
tilled  agricultural  districts — to  come  into  a  new  country, 
where  they  have  to  practise  new  ways,  live  differently,  and 
labor  by  new  methods ;  and,  by  consequence,  the  farming 
community  of  the  West  are  remarkably  free  to  meet  and 
adopt  agricultural  improvements.  But  the  difficulty  lies  in 
a  different  direction.  The  farmers  have  large  farms — are 
ambitious  of  large  crops,  large  herds  of  cattle,  large  droves 
of  hogs,  and  of  a  style  of  husbandry  which  brings  in  a 
large  pile,  and  all  at  once ;  so  that  the  idea  of  good  farming 
is  large  farming.  Many  a  sturdy  Kentuckian  will  very 
patiently  plow,  two  or  three  times,  his  fifty  or  hundred  acres 
of  corn,  and  think  nothing  of  it ;  but  to  put  in  half  an  acre 
of  carrots,  or  beets,  to  weed  and  work,  to  harvest  and  store 
the  vexatious  little  crop,  this  seems  a  piddling  business. 
Our  big  prairie  farmers,  our  heavy  bottom-land  fanners,  our 
stock  farmers  who  "  hog"  one  or  two  hundred  acres  of  corn, 
of  their  own  planting  or  of  their  neighbor's,  they  do  not 
love  little  work.  We  know  a  man  who  lives  on  thirty  acres 
of  land  of  about  a  middling  quality.  lie  winters  seven 
cows,  two  horses,  and  two  pi.^s.  Ho  raises  corn  and  grasa 

10* 


226  PLAIN  AND  PLEASANT  TALK 

enough  for  his  own  use,  and  sells  none.  Every  year  he  puts 
in  about  a  quarter  of  an  acre  of  parsnips,  or  ruta  baga,  for 
winter  and  spring  fodder.  His  garden  in  summer,  and  his 
dairy  all  the  year  round,  are  represented  in  market.  He 
probably  does  not  receive  five  dollars  at  once,  on  any  one 
sale,  through  the  year.  We  never  looked  into  that  old 
chest  under  his  bed;  but  we  will  venture  much,  tliat  it'  the 
shrewd  housewife  would  keep  her  eagle  eyes  off  long  enough 
to  give  us  a  chance,  it  would  be  found  that  this  man  has 
made,  and  laid  up,  more  money  in  the  last  five  years  from 
his  thirty  acres,  than  any  farmer  about  here  from  six  times 
the  amount.  Our  farmers  have  not  grown  rich  on  large 
and  careless  farming;  but  many  are  growing  rich  on  small 
farms  and  careful  husbandry. 

When  the  dairy  shall  be  more  thought  of — when  winter- 
ing stock,  and  fattening  it,  shall  be  more  carefully  studied — 
we  predict  that  our  farmers  will  annually  raise  thousands 
of  bushels  of  roots,  and  have  capacious  cellars  under  their 
barns  to  store  them  in. 


CULTIVATION   OF    FRUIT-TREES. 

WE  must  give  up  thinking  of  remedies  for  blights  and 
diseases  of  fruit-trees  and  seek  after  preventives.  Amputa- 
tion may  limit  its  ravages ;  but  surgery  is  not  a  remedy, 
but  a  resource  after  remedies  fail.  We  must,  it  seems  to 
us,  look  for  a  preventive  in  a  wiser  system  of  fruit  cultiva- 
tion. To' this  subject  we  shall  now  speak. 

The  effect  of  cultivation  in  changing  the  habits  of  plants 
is  familiar  to  all.  Incident  to  this  artificial  condition  of  the 
plant,  there  will  be  new  diseases,  vegetable  vices,  which,  as 
they  result  from  cultivation,  must  be  regarded  in  every 
perfect  system  of  cultivation. 

Where  trees  are  grown  for  timber,  or  shade,  or  orn.i- 


ABOUT   FRUITS,   FLCXWERS   AND   FARMING.  227 

ment,  everything  can  be  sacrificed  to  the  production  of 
wood  and  foliage,  put  in  fruit-trees  wood  is  nothing  and 
fruit  is  everything.  We  push  for  quantity  and  quality  of 
fruit ;  and  would  not  regard  the  wood  or  foliage  at  all,  if  it 
were  not  indispensable  as  a  means  of  procuring  fruit.  That 
is  the  most  skillful  treatment  of  fruit-trees  which  involves  a 
just  compromise  between  the  wants  of  the  tree,  and  the 
abundance  and  excellence  of  fruit.  There  is  away  of  train- 
ing fruit  by  a  rapid  consumption  of  the  tree ;  and  there  is  a 
method  of  gaining  fruit  by  invigorating  and  prolonging  the 
tree.  Two  systems  of  cultivation  grow  out  of  these  dif- 
ferent methods — a  natural  system  and  an  artificial  system. 
All  cultivation  is  artificial,  even  the  rudest.  By  natural 
system,  then,  is  only  meant  a  treatment  which  interferes 
but  little  with  nature;  and  by  artificial,  a  system  in  which 
skill  is  applied  to  every  part  of  the  vegetable  economy. 
For  conservatories,  gardens,  and  experimental  grounds, 
there  is  no  reason  why  an  artificial  system  should  not  exist. 
Moral  considerations  restrain  us  from  stimulating  a  man  or  a 
beast  to  procure  a  quick  or  a  large  return  at  the  expense  of 
life  and  limb;  but  in  vegetable  matters  our  preference  or 
interest  is  the  only  restraint.  If  any  reason  exists  for  forc- 
ing a  tree  to  bear  young,  and  enormously,  and  after  ten 
years'  service  for  throwing  it  away,  it  is  proper  to  do  it. 
For  larger  show-fruit  we  ring  a  limb  expecting  to  sacrifice 
the  branch ;  we  diminish  the  life  of  the  pear  by  putting  it 
to  a  dwarf  habit  by  violent  means.  If  we  have  any  suffi- 
ciently desirable  object  to  accomplish,  there  is  no  reason 
why  we  should  not  do  it.  There  may  be  as  good  reasons 
for  limiting  a  tree  to  ten  years  as  a  strawberry  bed  to 
three. 

There  is  another  form  of  the  artificial  system  in  which 
there  is  much  to  censure.  When  fruit-trees  are  set  in  gar- 
dens, yards,  etc.,  to  be  permanent,  and  long-lived,  it  is  folly 
to  apply  to  them  that  high-toned  treatment  which  belong 
to  an  artificial  system  as  I  have  spoken  of  it  above. 


228  PLAIN   AND  PLEASANT  TALK 

Impatient  of  delay,  the  cultivator  presses  his  trees  foiward 
by  stimulating  applications,  or  retards  thorn  l>y  violent 
.tTonei — l»y  pruning  at  tin-  root  ur  branch,  by  heiul- 
iug  or  binding  ;  e\  cr\  tiling  is  sacrificed  for  early  and  abun- 
dant bearing.  Fine  fruit  yards,  designed  to  last  a  hundred 
years,  are  served  with  a  treatment  proper  only  to  a  con- 
st rvatory  or  experimental  garden.  This  high-toned  system 
is  still  more  vicious  when  applied  to  orchards  and  especially 
to  pear  orchards;  and  it  seems  to  us  that  much  is  to  be 
learned  and  much  unlearned  before  we  shall  have  attain* -1 
a  true  science  of  pear  culture.  Let  us  consider  some  facts. 
It  is  well  known  that  seedling  apple-trees  are  generally 
longer  lived  than  grafted  varieties,  and  obnoxious  to  fewer 
diseases.  The  same  is  true  of  the  pear-tree.  It  has  fre- 
quently been  said  that  seedling  and  wilding  pears  were  not 
subject  to  the  blight.  This  is  not  true  if  such  trees  are  under- 
going the  same  cultivation  as  grafted  sorts ;  it  is  not  always 
true  when  they  exist  in  an  untutored  state ;  but  when  they 
are  left  to  themselves,  they  certainly  are  less  obnoxious  to 
the  blight  and  to  disease  of  any  kind,  than  are  grafted  ami 
cultivated  varieties.  A  comparison  between  wild  and 
tame,  between  cultivated  and  natural,  between  seedling  and 
and  grafted  fruit,  is  certainly  to  the  advantage  of  seedling 
uncultivated  fruit,  in  respect  to  the  HEALTH  of  the  tree — of 
course  it  is  not  in  respect  to  quality  of  fruit.  In  connection 
with  these  facts,  consider  another,  that  seedling  and  wilding 
fruit  is  nearly  twice  as  long  in  coming  into  bearing  as  are 
cultivated  varieties.  The  seedling  apple  bears  at  from  ten 
to  fourteen  years.  The  pear  bears  at  from  fifteen  to  eighteen 
years.  But  upon  cultivation  the  grafted  pear  and  apple 
bear  in  from  five  to  eight  years.  It  is  noticeable  that, 
although  the  pear  as  a  wilding  is  four  or  five  years  longer 
in  coming  to  a  bearing  state  than  the  apple,  yet,  upon 
cultivation,  they  both  bear  at  about  the  same  age  from  the 
bud  or  graft.  In  a  private  letter  from  Robert  Manning  (we 
pri/e  it  as  among  the  last  he  ever  wrote;  another,  receive.! 


ABOUT  FBUITS,   FLO  WEBS   AND  FARMING.  229 

not  long  after,  was  dictated ;  but  signed  by  his  tremulous 
luiiitl  in  letters  which  gpeak  of  death),  he  says,  "Pears  bear 
as  soon  as  apples  of  .the  same  age;  on  the  quince  much 
sooner,"  etc. 

It  appears,  then,  that  while  cultivation  accelerates  the 
period  of  fruit-bearing  and  perfects  the  fruit,  it  is  also 
accompanied  with  premature  age  and  liability  to  diseases, 
we  do  not  wish  to  be  understood  as  opposing  the  habit  of 
cultivating  fruit,  or  as  prejudiced  against  grafted  varieties 
— we  are  neither  opposed  to  the  one  nor  to  the  other.  But 
we  would  deduce  from  facts,  some  conclusions  which  will 
enable  us  to  perfect  our  fruits  by  a  more  discriminating 
treatment. 

The  question  will  arise,  Is  it  only  by  accident  that  liability 
to  disease  increases,  with  increase  of  cultivation  ?  Is  there 
an  inherent  objection  in  all  artificial  treatment  ?  or  is  there 
objection  only  to  particular  methods  of  artificial  cultiva- 
tion? 

Although  there  may  be  too  many  exceptions,  to  allow  of 
our  saying,  that  quickly-growing  timber  is  not  durable,  it 
may  be  said  in  respect  to  trees  of  the  same  species,  that  the 
durability  of  the  timber  depends  (among  other  things)  on 
the  slowness  of  its  growth.  Mountain  timber  is  usually 
tougher  and  more  lasting  than  champaign  wood;  timber 
growing  in  the  great  alluvial  valleys  of  the  West,  is  noto- 
riously more  perishable  than  that  grown  in  the  parsimonious 
soils  of  the  North  and  East. 

The  reason  does  not  seem  obscure.  In  a  rich  soil,  and 
uiuU-r  an  ardent  sun,  not  only  is  the  growth  of  trees  greater 
in  any  given  season,  than  in  a  poor  soil,  but  the  growtli  is 
coarser  and  the  grain  coarser.  But  what  is  a  coarse  growth, 
and  what  is  fine-grained,  or  coarse-grained  timber  ? — timber 
in  which  the  vascular  system  has  been  greatly  distended,  in 
which  sup-vi'ssols  and  air-colls  are  large  and  coarse.  Where 
wood  is  formed  with  great  rapidity  and  with  a  super 
abundance  of  sap,  not  only  will  there  be  large  ducts  and 


230  PLAIN  AXD  PLEASANT  TALK 

vessels,  but  the  sap  itself  will  be  but  imperfectly  elaborated 
l»y  tin-  U-avcs.  We  may  suppose  that  overfeeding  in  vege- 
tal iK's  is,  in  its  effects,  analogous  to  overfeeding  in  animals. 
The  sap  is  but  imperfectly  decomposed  in  the  leaf—  it  passes 
into  the  channels  for  elaborated  sap  in  a  partially  nudi- 
st ate  —  it  deposits  imperfect  secretions,  and  the  whole  tissue 
from  it  will  partake  of  the  defects  of  the  proper 


juice* 

Thus  a  too  rapid  growth  not  only  enlarges  the  sap  pas- 
sages, but  forms  their  sides  and  the  whole  vegetable  tissue 
of  imperfect  matter.  This  accounts,  not  only  for  the  perish- 
ableness  of  quickly-grown  timber,  but,  doubtless,  for  the 
short-lived  tendency  of  cultivated  fruit  in  comparison  with 
ir  tidings.  For  where  the  tissue  is  imperfectly  formed, 
general  weakness  must  ensue. 

These  reasonings  do  not  include  plants  which,  in  their 
original  nature,  have  a  system  of  large  sap-vessels,  etc.,  and 
which  naturally  are  rapid  growers,  but  respects  only  plants 
which  have  been  forced  to  this  condition  by  circumstances. 

Has  this  condition  of  the  vegetable  substance  nothing  to 
do  with  the  health  of  a  tree?  Does  it  not  very  much 
determine  its  liability  to  disease  ?  —  its  excitability  ?  Where 
are  trees  liable  to  diseases  of  the  circulation  ?  In  England, 
in  New  England,  where,  by  climate  and  soil,  growth  is 
slow  ?  —  or  in  the  Western  and  Middle  States,  where,  by 
climate,  by  soil,  and  by  vicious  treatment,  the  growth  is 
excessive  ?  This  leads  me  to  review  the  methods  employed 
in  rearing  fruit-trees. 

The  nursery  business  is  a  commercial  business,  and  aims 
at  profit.  It  is  the  interest  of  nurserymen  to  sell  largely, 
and  to  bring  their  trees  into  market  in  the  shortest  possible 
time  from  the  planting  of  the  seed  and  the  setting  of  the 


*  For  the  young  reader  it  may  be  necessary  to  say,  that-  when  sap  is 
first  taken  up  by  the  roots  it  is  called  true  sap  ;  but  after  it  has  under- 
gone a  chaiifrr  in  tin-  lc;ivcs  it  in  called  proper  juice. 


ABOUT  FRUITS,    FLOWERS   AND   FARMING.  231 

bud,  to  the  sale  of  the  tree.  But  independently  of  this, 
few  nurserymen  know,  accurately,  the  nature  of  the  plants 
which  they  cultivate,  and  still  less  the  habits  of  each 
variety.  Why  should  they,  when  learned  pomologists  are 
content  to  know  as  little  as  they  ?  The  trees  are  highly 
cultivated  and  closely  side-pruned.  The  vigor  of  a  tree, 
i.  6.  the  rapidity  with  which  it  will  grow,  determines  its 
favor.  Sorts  which  take  time,  and  require  a  longer  treat- 
ment, are  regarded  with  disfavor.  Everything  is  sacrificed 
to  rapid  growth  and  early  maturity. 

Next,  and  proceeding  in  the  same  evil  direction,  comes 
the  orchard  cultivation.  From  what  quarter  have  we, 
mostly,  derived  our  opinions  and  practices  in  fruit  cultiva- 
tion ?  From  French,  English,  and  New  England  writers. 
But  is  the  system  which  they  pursue  fit  for  us  ?  There  is 
an  opposite  extreme  to  high  cultivation ;  there  are  evils 
besetting  low-cultivation.  In  cold,  wet,  stiff,  barren  soils, 
and  in  a  cool,  or  humid,  or  cloudy  atmosphere,  trees 
require  stimulants.  The  soil  needs  drying,  warming, 
manuring;  and  the  tree  requires  pruning.  But  such  a 
system  is  ruinous,  where  the  soil  is  full  of  fiery  activity, 
bursting  out  with  an  irrepressible  fertility  and  a  superabun- 
dant vegetation;  where  the  long  summer  days  are  intensely 
brilliant,  and  the  air  warm  enough  to  ripen  fruit  even  in 
the  densest  shade  of  an  unpruned  tree. 

A  traveller  hi  Lapland  would  require  the  most  bracing 
and  stimulating  food ;  but  in  New  Orleans  it  would  produce 
fever  and  death.  A  region,  subject  to  all  the  diseases  and 
evils  of  vegetable  plethora,  has  adopted  the  practice  of 
regions  subject  to  the  opposite  evils.  While  receiving  with 
gratitude,  at  the  hands  of  eminent  foreign  physiologists 
and  cultivators,  the  principles,  we  must  establish  the  ART 
of  horticulture,  by  a  practice  conformable  to  our  own  cir- 
cumstances. A  treatment  which  in  England  would  only  pro- 
duce healthful  growth,  in  this  country  would  pamper  a  tree 
to  a  luxurious  fullness.  Let  us  not  be  deluded  by  the  faila- 


232  PLAIN   AND   PLEASANT  TALK 

cious  appearance  of  our  orchards.  The  evils  which  we 
have  to  fear  are  not  shown  forth  in  the  early  history  of  a 
tree  or  an  orchard.  On  the  contrary,  the  appearance  will 
be  flattering.  The  apple  is  a  more  hardy  tree  than  the 
pear,  and  will  endure  greater  mismanagement;  but  in  the 
Iciiir  run  we  shall  have  to  pay  for  our  greedy  cultivation, 
<\<n  in  the  apple  family.  Our  pear-trees  are  already 
t-vii  icing  the  evils  of  a  too  luxuriant  habit ;  and  if  the  West 
is  ever  to  become  the  pear-region  of  America,  the  culture 
of  this  tree  must  be  adapted  to  the  peculiarities  of  western 
soil  and  climate. 

It  will  be  borne  in  mind  that  our  remarks  upon  the  culti- 
vation of  fruit-trees  are  not  applicable  to  the  processes  of 
art  employed  in  experimental  gardens,  or  in  climates 
requiring  a  highly  artificial  culture,  but  to  gardens  and 
open  orchards  of  the  pear  and  apple  in  the  middle  and 
Western  States. 

Oar  climate  and  soil  predispose  fruit-trees  to  excessive 
growth.  There  is,  in  the  States  of  Ohio,  Indiana,  Illinois, 
and  in  the  thickly  settled  portions  of  Missouri  and  Ken- 
tucky, very  little  poor  soil.  Limestone  lands,  clay  lands, 
sandy  loams  and  alluvions,  afford  not  only  variety  of  soil, 
but  the  strongest  and  most  fertile.  The  forest  trees  of  the 
West  compared  with  the  same  species  east  of  the  Alleghany 
ridge,  exhibit  the  difference  of  soils.  Artificial  processes 
may  produce  better  soils,  it  may  be,  but  there  is  not  pro- 
bably on  earth  so  large  a  body  of  land  which  is,  as 
uniformly,  deep,  strong,  quick,  and  rich  in  all  mineral  and 
vegetable  substances.  It  is  cultivated  under  a  climate  most 
congenial  to  vegetation,  both  in  respect  to  length  and  tem- 
perature. Our  spring  is  early.  In  1835  we  gathered 
flowers  from  the  woods,  near  Cincinnati,  on  the  22d  of 
February.  In  1839  we  gathered  them  at  Lawrencebur^li, 
in  the  last  week  of  February.  We  find  in  our  garden 
journal  at  Indianapolis,  latitude  39°55'  north,  March  11, 
1840,  "rose-bushes,  honey-suckles,  and  willow  tives  had 


ABOUT  FEUITS,   FLOWEBS   AND  FARMING.  233 

been  in  leaf  for  some  days,"  and  seed-sowing  had  begun. 
In  1841,  seed  was  sown  in  open  ground,  April  8th.  In 
1842,  pie-plant  broke  ground  March  8th,  and  all  early  seed 
wi-iv  in  the  ground  by  the  21st.  In  1843,  seeds  were  in  by 
April  20.  In  1844  ground  was  in  a  working  state  Feb. 
23d,  and  seeds  put  in  by  March  1.  Trees,  varying  according 
to  the  nature  of  the  season,  complete  ike  first  growth,  on  an 
average,  about  the  1st  of  September.  Their  second  growth 
continues,  usually,  into  November.  In  1844  we  had  noisette 
roses  pushing  out  terminal  leaves  after  Christmas;  but  this 
is  not  a  frequent  occurrence.  Upon  an  average,  the  middle 
of  March  and  the  1st  of  November,  may  be  taken  as  the 
limits  of  the  vegetable  year — a  period  of  more  than  seven 
months.  During  this  season  rains  are  copious,  and  fre- 
quent. Our  midsummer  droughts  are  seldom  so  severe 
upon  vegetation  as  they  seem  to  be  in  New  England. 
During  the  months  of  June,  July  and  August,  the  tempe- 
rature of  mid-day  seldom  falls  below  70°  Fahren.  and 
ranges  between  70°  and  100°. 

One  other  cause  of  rapid  growth  is  to  be  mentioned 
— the  nature  of  our  winters.  Except  when  the  roots  are 
frozen,  they  are  supposed  never  to  be  inactive.  During  the 
winter  they  slowly  absorb  materials  from  the  soil,  and  fill 
the  whole  system  with  sap.  When  the  winters  are  severe^ 
they  are  usually  very  long ;  and  the  slowness  of  its  winter 
action  is  compensated  by  the  length  of  time  afforded  to  the 
plant.  In  the  western  States,  though  the  winters  are  short, 
yet  there  is  scarcely  a  week  in  which  trees  may  not  accumu- 
late their  stores.  The  spring  growth  will  be  vigorous  in 
proportion  to  the  amount  of  true  sap  collected  in  the  vege- 
table system.  As  the  whole  winter  is  mild  enough  for 
this  process  to  go  on,  the  growth  of  trees  is  rampant  in 
spring.  Thus,  the  quality  of  the  soils,  and  the  nature  of 
the  seasons — the  mildness  of  winter — the  earliness  of  spring 
and  length  of  summer — its  heat  and  great  atmospheric  bril- 
liancy, all  conspire  to  produce  very  rapid  and  strong 


234  PLAIN   AND  PLEASANT  TALK 

growth  in  herb,  shrub,  and  tree ;  and  I  repeat,  as  a  funda- 

nu-ntal  cmiMderation,  that  our  SOIL  AND  SEASON  PREDIS- 
POSE i  i::n  TKKES  TO  EXCESSIVE  GROWTH.  From  this  fact 
we  should  take  our  start  in  every  process  of  orchard,  nur- 
sery, and  garden  cultivation  of  fruit-trees ;  and  if  philoso- 
phic-ally employed  it  will,  we  will  not  say  revolution  i/.c,  l»ut 
materially  modify  the  processes  of  cultivation  peculiar  t<» 
colder  climates  and  poorer  soils.  In  respect  to  esculent 
vegetables — cabbages,  radishes,  celery,  rhubarb,  lettuce, 
etc.,  this  rank  and  rapid  growth  is  beneficial,  since  it  is  not 
the  fruit  but  the  plant  which  we  eat.  The  reverse  is  true 
in  fruit-trees.  Observant  cultivators  have  conformed  to 
this  indication  of  nature,  in  some  things ;  for  instance,  in 
the  treatment  of  the  grape.  The  German  emigrants  who 
settled  in  these  parts,  having  been  conversant  with  vine- 
dressing  in  Europe,  were  usually  employed  to  cut  and  lay 
in  the  vines  of  such  as  were  desirous  of  the  best  gardens. 
But,  gradually,  their  practice  has  been  rejected,  and  now, 
instead  of  reducing  our  vines  to  niggardly  stumps,  the 
wood  is  spared  and  laid  in  long.  If  pruning  be  close,  the 
vine  may  be  said  to  overflow  with  excess  of  new  wood, 
which  does  not  ripen  well.  Our  remarks  more  especially 
apply  to  regions  below  40°  of  north  latitude. 

Below  this  line,  our  efforts  need  not  be  directed  to  the 
forcing  of  growth,  for  that,  naturally,  will  be  all-sufficient. 
Our  object  must  be  compact  and  thoroughly  ripened  wood. 
These  reasonings  may  be  applied  to  many  practices  now 
generally  in  vogue. 

1.  It  is  the  practice  of  nurserymen  to  force  their  trees  l.\ 
cultivation,  and  by  pruning.  It  is  very  well  known,  to 
those  conversant  with  the  nursery  business,  that  great  grow- 
ers and  early  growers  are  the  favorites  (and,  so  far  a^  to 
expeditious  preparation  of  stock  for  sale  is  concerned,  ju>t- 
ly),  that  slow  and  tedious  growers  are  put  up«ni  rampant 
Crowing  stocks  to  quicken  them.  In  some  cases  manun->  an- 
freely  applied  to  the  soil,  as  directed  by  all  writers  who  teach 


ABOUT.   jfBUTTS,   FLOW1LBS  AND  FARMING.  235 

how  to  prepare  ground  for  a  nursery.  But  such  writers 
had  their  eye  upon  the  soil  of  England  or  New  England. 
The  still  more  vicious  practice  of  side  trimming  and  free 
pruning  is  followed,  which  forces  the  tree  to  produce  a  great 
deal  of  wood,  rather  than  to  ripen  well  a  little.  A  well- 
informed  nurseryman  ought  not  to  look  so  much  at  the 
length  of  his  trees,  as  to  the  quality  of  their  wood.  The 
very  beau  ideal  of  a  fruit-tree  for  our  climate  is  one  that, 
while  it  is  hardy  enough  to  grow  steadily  in  cool  seasons,  is 
not  excitable  enough  to  grow  rampantly  in  warm  ones,  and 
which  completes  its  work  early  in  the  season,  ripens  its 
wood  thoroughly,  and  goes  to  rest  before  there  is  danger 
of  severe  frost.  Such  trees  may  be  had,  by  skillful  breed- 
ing, as  easily,  as,  by  breeding,  any  desirable  quality  may  be 
developed  in  cattle  or  horses.  But  of  this  hereafter. 

The  subject  of  pruning  will  be  separately  treated ;  but 
it  is  appropriate  here  to  say,  that  every  consideration  should 
incline  the  nurseryman  to  grow  his  trees  with  side  brush 
from  top  to  bottom,  and  by  shortening  these,  to  multiply 
leaves  to  the  greatest  possible  extent  all  over  the  tree.  In 
every  climate  we  should  idolize  the  leaf- — in  which  are  the 
sources  of  health  and  abiding  vigor. 

2.  The  mistakes  of  the  nursery  are  carried  out  and  de- 
veloped by  the  purchaser,  in  the  following  respects — by  bad 
selection,  pernicious  cultivation,  and  by  improper  pruning. 

First,  trees  are  selected  upon  a  bad  principle.  Men  are 
very  naturally  in  a  hurry  to  see  their  orchards  in  bearing ; 
precocious  trees,  therefore,  and  all  means  of  prematurity 
are  sought.  In  respect  to  the  pear,  it  is  the  popular,  but 
incorrect,  opinion  that  it  takes  a  man's  lifetime  to  bring 
them  into  fruit.  Hope  deferred,  very  naturally  in  such 
cases,  makes  the  heart  sick.  But  certain  talismanic  words 
found  in  catalogues  and  fruit  manuals  restore  the  courage, 
and  you  shall  find  the  pencil  mark  made  upon  all  prars, 
described  as  "  of  a  vigorous  growth,"  "  a  rampant  grower,'' 
u  comes  early  into  bearing,"  "  bears  young,"  "  a  great  and 


236  PLAIN  AND  PLEASANT  TALK 

early  bearer."  But  such  as  these — "  not  of  a  very  vigorous 
growth,"  "does  not  bear  young,"  "the  growth  is  slow  but 
healthy,''  "grows  to  a  large  si/.c  In-fore  producing  fruit," — 
art1  passed  by.  Many  tanners  ju«lgr  of  a  tree  as  they 
would  timothy  grass."  A  short-jointed,  compact  hraiu-li,  is 
"stunted ;"  but  a  long,  plump  limb,  like  a  water  shoot,  or 
a  Lombardy  poplar  branch,  is  admired  as  a  first-rate  growth. 
Some  pears  have  but  this  single  virtue :  they  make  wood  in 
capital  quantities,  but  very  poor  pears.  Now  our  selection 
must  proceed  on  different  principles  if  our  orchards  are  to 
be  durable  and  healthy.  We  should  mark  for  selection  pears 
described  as — "of  a  compact  habit,"  "growth  slow  and 
healthy,"  "  ripens  its  wood  early  and  thoroughly."  A  tree 
which  runs  far  into  the  fall,  and  makes  quantities  of  wood 
more  than  it  can  thoroughly  ripen,  must  be  regarded  as 
unsafe  and  undesirable. 

There  is  another  marked  fault  in  selecting  trees — a  dispo- 
sition to  get  long  and  handsome  trees  with  smooth  stems. 
This  principle  (of  selection  would  be  excellent  when  one 
goes  after  a  bean-pole,  or  a  cane.  A  fruit-tree  is  not  usually 
cultivated  for  such  uses.  In  the  first  place,  it  is  not  wise  to 
expose  the  trunk  of  a  fruit-tree  to  the  full  sun  of  our  sum- 
mers. We  have  seen  peach  trees  killed  by  opening  the 
head  so  much  as  to  expose  the  main  branches  to  the  sun. 
A  low  head,  a  short  trunk  should  be  sought.  When  land 
is  scarce,  and  orchards  cultivated,  high  trimming  is  em- 
ployed for  the  sake  of  convenience,  not  of  the  tree,  but  of 
its  owner.  And  in  cool  and  humid  climates,  such  evils  do 
not  attend  the  practice,  as  with  us.  Beside  picking  long 
shanked  trees,  one  would  suppose  that  a  leaf  below  the 
crotch  would  poison  the  tree  from  the  assiduity  with  wlfu-h 
they  are  trimmed  off.  It  ought  to  be  laid  down  as  a  funda- 
mental rule  with  us,  that  a  tree  is  benefited  not  by  the 
amount  of  its  wood,  but  by  the  extent  of  its  leaf  surface. 
Every  effort  should  be  used  to  make  the  length  of  the  wood 
moderate,  and  the  amount  of  its  leaves  abundant.  The 


ABOUT  FRUITS,   FLOWERS   AND   FARMING.  237 

leaf  does  not  depend  for  its  quality  on  the  wood,  but  the 
wood  takes  its  nature  from  the  leaf.  Young  trees  ought 
to  be  grown  with  side  brush  from  the  roots  to  the  fork. 
Water  shoots  from  the  root  are  to  be  removed,  but  leaves 
upon  the  trunk  are  to  be  nursed.  By  cutting  in  the  brush 
when  it  tends  to  a  long  growth,  it  will  emit  side  shoots,  and 
still  increase  the  number  of  leaves. 

Secondly.  There  is  great  evil  in  pruning  too  much. 
France  and  England  have  given  us  our  notions  upon  prun- 
ing. There,  their  own  system  is  wise,  because  it  conforms 
to  the  climate  and  soil.  But  their  system  of  pruning  is  to- 
tally uncongenial  with  our  seasons  and  the  habits  of  our 
trees.  In  England,  for  instance,  the  peach  will  not  ripen  in 
open  grounds,  except,  perhaps,  in  the  extreme  southern 
counties.  In  consequence,  it  is  trained  upon  walls,  and  its 
wood  thinned,  to  let  light  and  heat  upon  every  part  of  it. 
It  is  very  right  to  husband  light  and  heat  when  it  is  scarce, 
and  by  opening  the  head  of  a  tree  to  carry  them  to  all  parts 
of  the  sluggish  wood.  But  we  often  have  more  than  we  want. 
A  peach  will  ripen,  on  the  lowest  limb  and  inside  of  the 
tree,  by  the  mere  heat  of  the  atmosphere.  Even  in  New 
England,  the  English  system  of  pruning  proves  too  free. 
Manning  says,  "  From  the  strong  growth  of  fruit-trees  in 
our  country  and  the  dryness  of  its  atmosphere,  severe  prun- 
ing is  less  necessary  here  than  in  England."  We  are  not 
giving  rules  for  pruning  ;  but  cautions  against  pruning  too 
freely.  There  is  not  a  single  point  in  fruit  cultivation  where 
more  mistakes  are  committed  than  in  pruning. 

Thirdly.  Great  mistakes  are  committed  in  stimulating  the 
growth  of  trees  by  enriching  the  soil.  Books  direct  (and 
men  naturally  and  innocently  obey),  the  putting  of  manure 
to  young  trees.  We  have  no  doubt  that  the  time  will 
come,  when  manures  will  be  so  thoroughly  analyzed  and 
classified,  that  we  can  employ  them  just  as  a  carpenter  does 
his  tools,  or  the  farmer  his  implements ;  if  we  wish  wood* 
we  shall  apply  certain  ingredients  to  the  soil  and  have  it ; 


238  PLAIN   AND  PLEASANT  TALK 

if  we  wish  fruit,  we  shall  have  at  hand  manures  which  pro- 
mote tin*  fruiting  properties  of  the  tree;  if  we  want  seed, 

we  shall  have  manures  lor  it.  But  manures  as  new  cm- 
ployed,  are,  usually,  not  beneficial  to  orchards  of  young 
A  day  soil,  very  stiff  and  adhesive,  may  require 
sand  and  vegetable  mold  to  render  it  permeable  to  the  root ; 
some  very  barren  soils  may  require  some  manure;  but  the 
average  of  our  farms  are  rich  enough  already,  and  too  rich 
for  the  good  of  the  young  tree.  It  would  be  better  for  the 
ore-hard  if  it  made  less  wood  and  made  it  better. 

If  these  directions  make  the  prospect  of  fruit  so  distant 
as  to  discourage  the  planting  of  orchards,  we  will  add,  plant 
your  orchard ;  and  if  you  cannot  wait  for  its  healthful 
growth,  plant  also  trees  for  immediate  use,  and  serve  them 
just  as  you  please ;  manure  them,  cut  them,  get  fruit  at  all 
hazards;  only  make  up  your  minds  that  they  will  be  short- 
lived and  liable  to  blight  and  disease. 


A    LIST    OF    CHOICE    FRUITS. 

OUR  readers  may  desire  a  list  of  fruits,  which  are  univer- 
sally admitted  to  be  of  first-rate  excellence.  We  cannot 
include,  of  course,  all  that  are  first  rate  ;  but  we  put  none 
in  that  are  not  so. 

I.   APPLES. 

I.    SUMMKR. 

Red  er  Carolina  June.  Prince's  Harvest. 

Summer  Queen.  Kirkbridge  White. 

Yellow  Hoss.  Sweet  June. 

Sweet  Bough.  Dauiel. 


ABOUT  FBUITS,   FLOWERS  AND  FABMING.  239 

II.  AUTUMN. 

Maiden's  Blush.  Fall  Harvey. 

Wine.  Gravenstein. 

Holland  Pippin.  Ashmore. 

Rambo.  Porter. 

III.  WINTER. 

Black.  White  Belle  Fleur. 

Golden  Russet.  Michael  Henry  Pippin. 

Newtown  Spitzenberg.  Pryor's  Red. 

Rhode  Island  Greening.  Green  Newtown  Pippin. 

Hubbardstou  Nonsuch.  Jenetan  or  Rawle's  Janet. 

Vandeveer  Pippin.  Putnam  Russet. 
Yellow  Belle  Fleur. 

II.    PEAKS. 

I.  SUMMER  PEARS,  or  such  as  ripen  from  the  first  of  July  to  the  last  of 

August. 

1.  Madeleine,or  Citron  des  Carmes.     4.  Dearborn's  Seedling. 

2.  Bloodgood.  5.  Julienne. 

3.  Summer  Francreal.  6.  Williams'  Bon  Chretien. 

II.  AUTUMN  PEARS,  or  such  as  ripen  from  September  to  the  last  of  No 

vember. 

7.  Stevens'  Genesse.  14.  Beurre  Bosc. 

8.  Belle  Lucrative.  16.  Andrews. 

9.  Henry  the  Fourth.  16.  Marie  Louise. 

10.  Washington.  17.  Doyenne  or  fall  butter. 

11.  Dunmore.  18.  Dix. 

12.  St.  Ghislain.  19.  Petre. 

13.  SeckeL  20.  Duchesse  D'Angouleme. 

III.  WINTER  PEARS,  or  those  which  ripen  during  the  winter  and  spring 

months. 

21.  Beurre  Diel.  27.  Van  Mons  Leon  le  Clerc. 

22.  Bacon's  Incomparable.  28.  Beurre  Easter. 

23.  Passe  Colmar.  29.  Chaumontelle. 

24.  Beurre  Ranz.  80.  Glout  Morceau. 

25.  Columbia.  81.  Prince's  St.  Germain. 

26.  Beurrc  D'Aremberg.  82.  Winter  Nells. 


240  PLAIN  AND  PLEASANT  TALK 

Those  who  wish  only  four  trees,  may  select  Nos.  2,  6,  20, 
26.  Those  who  have  room  for  eight^  to  the  above  may  add 
13,  23,  25,  32.  Those  who  wish  sixteen  trees,  to  the  above 
nay  add,  1,  3,  11,  14,  18,  21,  24,  28. 

III.  PEACHES. 

I.    EARLY. 

1.  Red  Magdalen.  4.  Morris'  Red  Rareripe. 

2.  Early  Royal  George.  5.  Crawford's  Early  Melocoton. 

3.  Early  York. 

II.    MEDIUM. 

6.  Apricot  Peach.  11.  Malta. 

7.  Baltimore  Rose.  12.  Brevoort. 

8.  Swalsh.  13.  Douglass. 

9.  Noblesse.  14.  Grosse  Mignoune. 
10.  Coolidge's  Favorite. 

III.    LATE. 

15.  Heath.  17.  Lemon  Cling. 

16.  Crawford's  late  Melocoton.  18.  La  Grange. 

IV.  APRICOTS. 

1.  Large  Early.  3.  Peach  Apricot. 

2.  Breda.  4.  Moorpark. 

V.  CHERRIES. 

1.  Bauman's  May  or  Bigarreau  de    6.  Bigarreau,  or  Spanish  Yellow. 

Mai.  7.  Belle  de  Choisy. 

2.  Black  Eagle.  8.  Black  Tartarian. 

3.  Knight's  Early  Black.  9.  Downer's  Late. 

4.  May  Duke.  10.  Napoleon. 

5.  Elton. 

For  a  collection  of  two  trees,  4,  9 ;  for  four  trees,  add 
6  and  10. 

VI.    PLUMS. 

1.  Green  Gage.  6.  Cruger's  Scarlet. 

2.  Jefferson,  7.  Washington. 

3.  Huling's  Superb.  8.  Red  Gage. 

4.  Coe's  Golden  Drop.  9.  Smith's  Orleans. 

6.  Purple  Gage.  10.  Royal  de  Tours. 


ABOUT  FRUITS,    FLOWERS   AND  FARMING.  241 

For  two  trees,  1  and  4 ;  for  four  add  2  and  7.  The  fol- 
lowing are  said  to  be  suitable  for  light  sandy  soils,  on  which 
plums  usually  drop  their  fruit :  Cruger's  Scarlet,  Imperial 
Gage,  Red  Gage,  Coe's  Golden  Drop,  Bleeker's  Gage,  Blue 
Gage. 

VII.    STRAWBERRIES. 

Early  Virginia.  Hudson. 

Hovey's  Seedling.  Ross  Phoenix. 

No  one  man  can  make  out  a  list  that  will  suit  all ;  and 
those  who  are  acquainted  with  fruits  will  reject  some  from 
the  above  list  and  insert  others.  But  it  may  be  safely  said, 
that  he  who  has  in  his  collection  the  above  varieties,  will 
have  a  collection  comprising  the  best  that  are  known,  and 
without  one  inferior  sort,  although  there  may  be  many 
others  as  good ;  which  may  be  added  by  such  as  have  room 
for  them. 


THE     NURSERY      BUSINESS. 

THE  great  interest  in  the  cultivation  of  fruit  which  has 
been  excited  within  a  few  years,  has  given  rise  to  many 
nurseries  to  supply  the  demand,  and  every  year  we  see  the 
number  increasing.  Or  rather,  we  see  new  adventurers  in 
this  line,  for  the  failure  of  many  and  the  abandonment  of 
the  business,  prevents  the  number  from  becoming  so  great 
as  one  would  suppose. 

We  are  very  glad  to  see  the  art  of  fruit  culture  increas- 
ing, and  we  are  very  glad  to  see  competent  men  embarking 
in  the  nursery  business.  But  we  are  sorry  to  see  the 
impression  gaining  ground  that  it  is  a  business  which  any- 
body can  conduct,  and  that  every  man  can  make  money  by 
it  who  knows  how  to  graft  or  to  bud.  Let  no  man  embark 
in  it  under  such  misapprehension. 

11 


242  PLAIN  AND  PLEASANT  TALK 

In  the  first  place,  the  time,  and  labor,  and  patience  re- 
quired for  a  successful  nursery  business  is  much  greater 
than  any  one  suspects  beforehand.  If  a  man  has  a  large 
capital  he  may  begin  sales  at  once  upon  a  purchased  stock. 
But  if  one  is  to  prepare  his  own  stock  for  market,  and  this 
must  be  the  case  with  by  far  the  greater  number  of  western 
nurserymen,  it  will  require  several  years  of  expensive  labor 
before  he  can  realize  anything.  Nor  even  then  will  he  be 
apt  to  receive  profits  which  will  at  all  meet  his  expectations. 
During  these  years  of  preparation  on  what  is  he  to  live? 
If  he  has  means,  very  well ;  but  let  no  man  suppose  that  he 
can  get  along,  especially  with  a  family  on  his  hands,  during 
the  early  years  of  his  nursery,  if  he  has  nothing  else  to  de- 
pend upon.  The  mere  physical  labor  of  keeping  a  nursery 
in  proper  order  is  such  as  to  make  it  no  sinecure. 

But  all  this  is  a  less  consideration  than  the  special  skill 
and  vigilant  care  required  to  conduct  a  nursery  in  an  hon- 
orable manner.  Nowhere  do  mistakes  occur  more  easily, 
and  nowhere  are  they  more  provoking,  both  to  the  buyer 
and  seller.  It  is  rare  that  assistants  can  be  had  upon 
whom  reliance  can  be  placed.  There  are  men  enough  to 
plow,  and  grub,  and  clean ;  but  to  select  buds  and  grafts, 
to  work  the  various  kinds,  and  plant  them  safely  by  them- 
selves, this,  usually,  must  be  done  by  the  proprietor.  Where 
a  nursery  is  carried  on  by  assistants,  it  makes  almost  no  dif- 
ference how  much  care  is  used,  mistakes  will  abound. 

The  extent  to  which  an  error  goes  is  not  unworthy  of  a 
moment's  attention.  We  purchased  of  a  very  highly  re- 
spectable nurseryman,  the  Royal  George  peach.  The  first 
season  many  buds  were  distributed  from  it.  An  expert 
nurseryman  in  the  vicinity,  among  others,  got  of  it.  The 
credit  of  the  original  proprietor  of  the  tree  was  such  that 
it  was  thought  safe  to  propagate  at  once,  and  thousands  of 
trees  were  worked  with  these  buds ;  from  him,  nurserymen 
from  neighboring  counties  procured  scions,  and  now  the 
Royal  George,  which  has  proved  to  be  no  Royal  George  at 


ABOUT   FRUITS,   FLOWERS   AND   FARMING.  243 

all,  is  scattered  all  over  the  country.  When  a  nursery  con- 
tains from  fifty  to  a  hundred  kinds  of  apples,  thirty  or  forty 
kinds  of  pears,  ten  to  twenty  sorts  of  cherries,  thirty  or 
forty  kinds  of  peaches,  besides  plums,  nectarines,  apricots, 
etc.,  there  will  be  some  two  or  three  hundred  separate 
varieties  of  fruit  to  be  propagated  each  year,  and  of  each 
sort  from  a  hundred  to  a  thousand  or  more  trees,  according 
to  the  business  of  the  nursery.  Two  things  are  apparent 
from  this  view ;  first,  that  such  unremitting  and  sagacious 
vigilance  is  required  that  not  every  one  is  fit  to  be  a  nurse- 
ryman; and,  secondly,  that  not  every  nurseryman  is  a 
scamp  who  puts  upon  you  trees  untrue  to  their  names. 
No  doubt  there  are  roguish  nurserymen ;  no  doubt,  too, 
there  are  culpably  careless  men  in  this,  as  in  all  other  forms 
of  business.  But  no  one  will  be  so  charitable  to  nursery- 
men as  those  who  understand  the  difficulties  of  their  busi- 
ness ;  and  a  mistake,  and  many  of  them,  may  occur  in  well- 
appointed  grounds,  which  no  care  could  well  have  pre- 
vented. 

We  think  this  to  be  a  business  to  which  no  man  should 
turn,  except  under  two  conditions ;  first,  that  he  will,  if  he 
has  not  already,  serve  a  faithful  apprenticeship  to  it — we 
do  not  mean  by  regular  indenture,  but  by  practising  for 
several  years  in  a  good  nursery  until  the  prominent  essen- 
tial parts  of  the  business  have  become  practically  familiar. 

The  other  condition  is,  that  he  make  up  his  mind  to  see 
to  it  himself. 


REMEDY  FOR  YELLOW  BUGS. — A  gentleman  informs  us 
that  he  has  always  saved  his  vines  by  planting  poppies 
among  them.  Those  on  one  side  of  an  alley,  without  pop- 
pies, would  be  entirely  eaten,  while  th^se  on  the  other  side, 
with  poppies,  would  not  be  touched. 


244  PLAIN  AND  PLEASANT  TALK 


THE     BREEDING     OF     FRUITS. 

BECAUSE,  as  yet,  no  certain  rules  can  be  laid  down  for  the 
production  of  a  given  result  by  crossing  flower  on  flower, 
it  does  not  follow  that  there  are  not  certain  invariable  prin- 
ciples which  govern  the  process.  It  is  but  a  little  while  since 
breeding  animals  had  any  pretension  to  scientific  rules.  But, 
by  careful  practice  and  observation,  the  most  important 
improvement  has  been  attained  in  all  the  animals  belonging 
to  the  farm.  And  if  careful  research  and  experiment  do 
not  result  in  absolute  certainty,  they  will  yet  render  the 
production  of  fine  varieties  of  fruit,  by  the  crossing  of 
the  old  ones,  a  matter  of  much  less  chance  than  it  now 
is. 

The  art  of  cross-fertilization  is  being  much  more  practised 
by  florists  than  by  pomologists,  and  for  obvious  reasons. 
What  the  breeder  of  annuals  can  do  in  a  few  months 
requires  more  than  as  many  years  from  him  that  essays  to 
raise  new  fruits.  Many  florists'  flowers,  however,  require 
as  long  and  even  a  longer  time  than  apples  or  pears  ;  and  it 
is  a  marvel  that  the  phlegmatic  patience  of  the  tulip-loving 
Dutch  Jobs  should  not  have  found  imitators  in  the  orchard. 
If  a  man  can  wait  ten  years  to  ascertain  that  all  his  seedling 
bulbs  are  good  for  nothing,  or  at  the  best,  that  out  of  ten 
thousand,  but  one  or  two  are  worth  keeping,  surely  the 
patience  of  an  enthusiast  in  fruit  ought  not  to  snapbybciiuj 
drawn  through  such  a  space. 

Two  methods  for  originating  new  varieties  of  fruit  have 
been  practised ;  the  natural  method  of  Van  Mons,  and  the 
artificial  method  of  Knight.  Van  Mons,  born  at  Brussels 
in  1765,  was  a  man  of  fine  genius  and  thorough  education. 
Although  he  is  chiefly_  known  as  a  pomologist,  his  labors 
in  the  nursery  were  only  incidental  to  the  regular  occupa- 
tion of  a  public  scientific  life.  M.  Poiteau  quaintly  says  of 
him  that  he  writes  "on  the  gravest  subjects,  in  the  mi«lst 
of  noise,  in  a  company  of  persons  who  talk  loudly  on  frivo- 


ABOUT  FRUITS,   FLOWERS   AND   FARMING.  245 

lous  subjects,  and  takes  part  in  the  conversation  without 
stopping  his  pen." 

Van  Mons'  theory  is  founded  upon  two  physical  facts : 

1.  That  all  seeds  in  a  state  of  nature  can  be  made  by  cul- 
tivation to  vary  from  their  condition,  which  variations 
may  be  fixed,  and  become  permanent. 

2.  Ttiat  all  cultivated  seeds  have  a  tendency  to  return  to- 
ward that  natural  state  from  which  they  originally  varied. 
We  say  toward,  for  he  supposed  that  an  improved  fruit  would 
never  return  absolutely  to  the  original  and  natural  type. 

It  was  upon  this  last  principle  that  Van  Mons  accounted 
for  the  fact,  that  as  a  general  thing,  the  seeds  of  fine  old 
varieties  of  fruit  produced  only  inferior  kinds.  Recourse 
could  not  be  had  therefore  to  seeds  of  unproved  fruit. 

On  the  other  hand,  the  seed  of  fruits'  absolutely  wild 
would  produce  fruits  exactly  like  their  original.  If  the 
seed  of  the  wild  pear  be  gotten  from  the  wood  and  planted 
in  a  garden,  every  seed  will  yield  only  the  wild  pear  again. 
But  if  a  wild  pear  be  transplanted,  and  put  under  new  influ- 
ences of  soil,  climate  and  cultivation,  its  fruit  will  begin  to 
augment  and  improve.  The  change  is  not  merely  upon  the 
size  and  appearance  of  the  fruit,  it  affects  also  the  qualities 
of  the  seed.  For  if  the  seed  be  now  planted,  the  difference 
between  a  wild  pear,  in  a  state  of  nature  and  the  same  wild 
pear-tree  in  a  state  of  cultivation  will  at  once  appear  in 
this,  that  whereas  the  seed  of  the  first  is  constant,  the  seed 
of  the  second  shows  an  inclination  to  vary.  Here  then  is  a 
starting.  When  once  the  habit  of  variation  is  gained,  the 
foundation  of  improvement  is  laid.  In  a  short  time  the 
enthusiasm  of  Van  Mons  had  collected  into  his  garden 
80,000  trees  upon  which  he  was  experimenting,  nor  can  the 
result  of  his  labors  be  better  stated  than  in  the  words  of 
M.  Poitcau : 

"  That  so  long  as  plants  remain  in  their  natural  situation, 
they  do  not  sensibly  vary,  and  their  seeds  always  produce 
the  same;  but  on  changing  their  climate  and  territory 


240  PLAIN  AND  PLEASANT  TALK 

several  among  them  vary,  some  more  and  others  less,  and 
when  they  have  once  departed  from  their  natural  state, 
they  never  again  return  to  it,  but  are  removed  more  and 
more  therefrom,  by  successive  generations,  and  produce, 
sufficiently  often,  distinct  races,  more  or  less  durable,  and 
that  finally  if  these  variations  are  even  carried  back  to  the 
territory  of  their  ancestors,  they  will  neither  represent  the 
character  of  their  parents,  or  ever  return  to  the  species 
from  whence  they  sprung." 

Accordingly,  Van  Mons  began  to  sow  the  seeds  of  natural 
and  wild  fruit  which  were  in  a  variable  state.  By  all  means 
within  his  power  he  hastened  his  seedlings  to  show  fruit. 
The  first  generation  showed  only  poor  fruit  but  decidedly 
better  than  the  wild.  Selecting  the  seed  of  the  best  of 
these,  he  sowed  again.  From  the  fruit  of  these  he  sowed 
the  third  generation.  From  the  third,  a  fourth ;  and  from 
the  fourth,  a  fifth ;  as  far  as  the  eighth  generation. 

His  experience  showed  that  there  was  great  difference 
among  different  species  of  fruit  in  the  number  of  gene- 
rations through  which  they  must  pass  before  they  were  per- 
fect. The  apple  yielded  good  fruit  in  the  fourth  genera- 
tion. Stone  fruits  produced  perfect  kinds  in  the  third 
generation.  Some  varieties  afforded  perfect  fruit  in  the 
fifth  generation,  while  others  go  on  improving  to  the 
eighth. 

The  time  required  for  this  renovation  diminished  at  each 
remove  from  the  normal  or  wild  state.  Thus,  the  trees 
from  the  second  sowing  of  the  pear-seed  fruited  in  from  ten 
to  twelve  years  ;  those  from  their  seed,  or  of  the  third  gene- 
tion  in  from  eight  to  ten  years ;  those  of  the  fourth  genera- 
tion in  from  six  to  eight  years ;  those  of  the  fifth  genera- 
tioi\  in  six  years,  and  those  in  the  eight,  in  four  years. 
These  are  the  mean  terms  of  all  his  experiments. 

To  obtain  perfect  stone  fruits,  through  four  successive 
generations,  from  parent  to  son,  required  from  twelve  to 
fifteen  years ;  the  apple  required  twenty  years,  and  the  pear, 


ABOUT  FRUITS,   FLOWERS   AND  FARMING.  247 

when  carried  only  to  the  fifth  generation,  required  from 
thirty  to  thirty-six  years. 

HYBRIDIZATION,  OR  KNIGHT'S  METHOD. — Andrew  Knight, 
one  of  the  most  original  and  philosophic  horticulturists  that 
ever  lived,  pursued  an  entirely  different  method — that  of 
cross-fertilization.  He  carefully  removed  the  anthers  from 
the  blossoms  upon  which  he  wished  to  operate,  so  that  the 
stigma  should  not  receive  a  particle  of  the  pollen  belonging 
to  its  own  flower.  He  then  procured  from  the  variety 
which  he  wished  to  cross,  a  portion  of  the  pollen,  and  arti- 
ficially impregnated  the  prepared  blossom  with  it.  When 
the  fruit  thus  produced  had  ripened  its  seeds,  they  were 
sown,  and  by  regular  process  brought  into  bearing.  The 
progeny  were  found  to  combine,  hi  various  degrees  of 
excellence,  the  qualities  of  both  parents. 


REMARKS  ON  THE  TWO  METHODS. 

1.  Both  Van  Mons  and  Knight  believed  in  a  degeneracy 
of  plants ;  but  the  degeneracy  of  the  one  system  is  not  to 
be  confounded  with  that  of  the  other. 

Knight  believed  that  varieties  had  a  regular  period  of 
existence ;  although,  as  in  animal  life,  care  and  skill  might 
make  essential  difference  in  the  longevity,  yet  they  could  in 
nowise  avert  the  final  catastrophe;  a  time  would  come, 
sooner  or  later,  at  which  the  vegetable  vitality  would  be 
expended,  and  the  variety  must  perish  by  exhaustion — by 
running  out. 

Van  Mons  believed  that  an  improved  variety  tended  to 
return  to  its  normal  state — to  its  wild  type ;  and  although 
he  did  not  believe  that  it  could  ever  be  entirely  restored  tc 
its  wild  state,  it  might  go  so  far  as  to  make  it  worthless  for 
useful  purposes. 

Knight  believed  in  absolute  decay ;  Van  Mons,  in  retro- 
cession. According  to  Knight's  theory,  varieties  of  fi-iil 


248  PLAIN  AND  PLEASANT  TALK 

cease  by  the  natural  statute  of  limitation;  according  to 
Van  Mons,  they  only  fall  from  grace. 

Thriv  oan  IK-  n<>  ivax.nalik-  doubt  that  Van  Mons  held 
tlu-  truth,  and  as  little,  that  Knight's  speculations  were  fal- 
lacious. Bad  cultivation  will  cause  anything  to  run  out;  no 
plant  will  perfect  its  tissues  or  fruit  without  the  soil  affords 
it  elementary  materials.  The  so-called  exhausted  varieties 
renew  their  youth  when  transplanted  into  soils  suitable  for 
them. 

2.  Against  Van  Mons'  method  it  is  urged,  that  it  enfee- 
bles the  constitution  of  plants ;  that,  enfeebling  is  the  very 
key  of  the  process.  This  Mr.  Downing  urges  with  emphasis, 
saying  that,  "  the  Belgian  method  (Van  Mons')  gives  us 
varieties  often  impaired  in  their  health  in  their  very  origin." 
It  is  one  thing  to  restrain  the  energy  of  a  plant,  and  an- 
other to  enfeeble  it.  It  may  be  enfeebled  until  it  becomes 
unhealthy,  but  rampant  vigor  is  as  really  an  unhealthy  state 
as  the  other  extreme.  A  tree  refuses  fruit  and  is  liable  to 
death  from  a  coarse,  open,  rank  growth,  as  much  as  from  a 
languor  which  suppresses  all  growth. 

No  ;  that  which  we  imagine  Van  Mons  to  have  effected 
was  a  smaller,  but  more  compact  and  fine  growth.  Nor 
are  we  aware  that,  as  a  matter  of  experience,  the  Belgian 
pears  prove  to  be  any  more  tender  than  the  English. 
Doubtless,  there  are  trees  of  a  delicate  and  tender  habit  in 
the  number,  but  as  few,  in  proportion  to  the  great  number 
originated,  as  by  any  other  method. 

The  two  main  objections  to  the  plan  are  the  time  required, 
and  the  utter  uncertainty  of  the  results.  To  imitate  the 
process  would  require  a  Van  Mons'  patience,  in  which,  pro- 
bably, he  was  never  surpassed,  and  his  enthusiasm,  which 
was  extraordinary  even  for  a  horticulturist,  a  race  of  beings 
supposed  to  be  anything  but  phlegmatic. 

The  uncertainty  is  such  as  to  prevent  any  determinate 
improvement.  We  get,  not  what  we  may  wish,  but  what- 
ever may  happen  to  come.  Nothing  that  art  can  do  would 


ABOUT   FBUITS,    FLOWEBS   AND   FARMING.  249 

affect  the  size,  color,  hardness,  or  in  any  respect,  the  gene- 
ral character  of  the  fruit. 

It  is  in  these  aspects  that  Knight's  method  must  always 
be  preferred  as  a  practical  system.  We  can  obtain  a  return 
for  our  labor  in  one-fifth  the  time  ;  and,  what  is  even  more 
important,  we  can  regulate,  before-hand,  the  results  within 
<-.  i  tain  limits.  The  new  fruit  is  to  be  made  up  of  the  quali- 
ties of  its  parents  in  various  proportions.  We  cannot  deter- 
mine what  the  proportions  shall  be,  but  we  can  determine 
what  parents  shall  be  selected.  Nor  is  it  at  all  improbable 
that,  when  knowledge  has  become  more  exact  by  a  longer 
and  larger  experience,  the  breeder  of  fruit  may  cross  the 
varieties  with  neanly  the  same  certainty  of  result  as  does 
the  breeder  of  stock.  It  is  upon  this  feature,  the  power 
,\ -hi fh  science  has  over  the  results  to  be  obtained,  that  we 
look  with  the  greatest  interest ;  and  we  urge  upon  scientific 
cultivators  the  duty  of  perfecting  our  fruits  by  judicious 
breeding. 


PRUNING    ORCHARDS. 

THE  habit  of  early  spring  pruning  has  been  handed  down 
to  us  from  English  customs,  and  farmers  do  it  because  it 
always  has  been  done.  Besides,  about  this  time,  men  have 
leisure,  and  would  like  to  begin  the  season's  work ;  and 
pruning  seems  quite  a  natural  employment  with  which  to 
introduce  the  la"bors  of  the  year. 

It  is  not  possible  for  America,  but  more  emphatically  for 
western  cultivators  to  do  worse  than  to  pattern  upon  the 
example  of  British  ami  Continental  authorities  in  the  matter 
of  orchards  and  vineyards.  The  summers  of  England  are 
moist,  cool,  and  deficient  in  light.  Our  summers  are  exactly 
the  reverse — dry,  fervid,  and  brilliant.  The  stimuli  of  the 

11* 


250  PLAIN   AND  PLEASANT  TALK 

dements  with  them  are  much  below,  and  with  us  much 
above  par.  In  consequence,  their  trees  have  but  a  moderate 
growth  ;  ours  are  inclined  to  excessive  growth. 

Their  whole  system  of  open-culture,  and  wall-training  is 
founded  upon  the  necessity  of  husbanding  all  their  re- 
sources. To  avail  themselves  of  every  particle  of  light, 
they  keep  open  the  heads  of  their  trees,  so  that  the  parsi- 
monious sunshine  shall  penetrate  every  part  of  the  tree. 
Let  this  be  done  with  us,  and  there  are  many  of  our  trees 
that  would  be  killed  by  the  force  of  the  sun's  rays  upon  tin- 
naked  branches  in  a  single  season,  or  very  much  enfeebled. 
For  the  same  general  reasons,  the  English  reduce  the  quan- 
tity of  bearing-wood,  shortening  a  part  or  wholly  cutting  it 
out,  that  the  residue,  having  the  whole  energy  of  the  tree 
concentrated  upon  it,  may  perfect  its  fruit.  Our  difficulty 
being  an  excess  of  vitality,  this  system  of  shortening  and 
cutting  out,  would  cause  the  tree  to  send  out  suckers  from 
the  root  and  trunk,  and  would  fill  the  head  of  the  tree  with 
rank  water-shoots  or  gourmands.  What  would  be  thought 
of  the  people  of  the  torrid  zone  should  they  borrow  their 
customs  of  clothing  from  the  practice  of  Greenland  ?  It 
would  be  as  rational  as  it  is  for  orchardists,  in  a  land  whose 
summers  are  long  and  of  high  temperature,  to  copy  the 
customs  of  a  land  whose  summers  are  prodigal  of  fog  and 
rain,  but  penurious  of  heat  and  light. 

Except  to  remove  dead,  diseased  or  interfering  branches, 
do  not  cut  at  all. 

But  if  pruning  is  to  be  done,  wait  till  after  corn-planting. 
The  best  time  to  prune  is  the  time  when  healing  will  the 
quickest  follow  cutting.  This  is  not  in  early  spring,  but  in 
early  summer.  The  elements  from  which  new  wood  is  pro- 
duced are  not  drawn  from  the  rising  sap,  but  from  that 
which  descends  between  the  bark  and  wood.  This  sap, 
called  true  sap,  is  the  upward  sap  after  it  has  gone  through 
that  chemical  laboratory,  the  leaf.  Each  leaf  is  a  chemical 
contractor,  doing  up  its  part  of  the  work  of  preparing  sap 


ABOUT   FRUITS,    FLOWJKRS    AND    FARMING.  251 

for  use,  as  fast  as  it  is  sent  up  to  it  from  the  root  through 
the-  interim-  sap-passages.  In  the  leaf,  the  sap  gives  off  and 
receives,  certain  properties;  and  when  thus  elaborated,  it 
is  charged  with  all  those  elements  required  for  the  forma- 
tion and  sustentation  of  every  part  of  vegetable  fabric. 
Descending,  it  gives  out  its  various  qualities,  till  it  reaches 
the  root ;  and  whatever  is  left  then  passes  out  into  the  soil. 

Every  man  will  perceive  that  if  a  tree  is  pruned  in  spi-in;; 
before  it  has  a  leaf  out,  there  is  no  sap  provided  to  repair 
the  wound.  A  slight  granulation  may  take  place,  in  certain 
circumstances,  and  in  some  kinds  of  plants,  from  the  ele- 
ments with  which  the  tree  was  stored  during  the  former 
season ;  but,  in  point  of  fact,  a  cut  usually  remains  without 
change  until  the  progress  of  spring  puts  the  whole  vege- 
table economy  into  action. 

In  young  and  vigorous  trees,  this  process  may  not  seem  to 
occasion  any  injury.  But  trees  growing  feeble  by  age  will 
soon  manifest  the  result  of  this  injudicious  practice,  by 
blackened  stumps,  by  cankered  sores,  and  by  decay. 

If  one  must  begin  to  do  something  that  looks  like  spring- 
work,  let  him  go  at  a  more  efficient  train  of  operations. 
With  a  good  spade  invert  the  sod  for  several  feet  from  the 
body  of  the  tree.  With  a  good  scraper  remove  all  dead 
bark.  Dilute  (old)  soft  soap  with  urine;  take  a  stiff  shoe- 
brush,  and  go  to  scouring  the  trunk  and  main  branches. 
This  will  be  labor  to  some  purpose ;  and  before  you  have 
gone  through  a  large  orchard  faithfully,  your  zeal  for  spring- 
work  will  have  become  so  for  tempered  with  knowledge, 
that  you  will  be  willing  to  let  pruning  alone  till  after  corn- 
plantiixj. 

Two  exceptions  or  precautions  should  be  mentioned. 
-1.  In  the  use  of  tin-  wash  ;  new  soap  is  more  caustic  than 
old ;  and  the  sediments  of  a  soap  barrel  much  more  so  tL-m 
the  mass  of  soap.  Sometimes  trees  have  been  injured  by 
applying  a  caustic  alkali  in  too  great  strength.  There  is 
little  danger  of  this  when  a  tree  is  rough  and  covered  with 


252  PLAIN  AND   PLEASANT  TALK 

•  Ira- 1  bark  or  dirt;  but  when  it  is  smooth  and  has  no  scurf 
it  is  more  liable  to  suffer.     Trees  should  not  be  washed  in 
»id  warm  weather.  The  best  time  is  just  before  spring 
rains,  or  before  any  rain. 

2.  Where  fruit-trees  are  found  to  have  suffered  from  tho 
winter,  pruning  cannot  be  too  early,  and  hardly  too  severe. 
If  left  to  grow,  the  heat  of  spring  days  ferments  the  sap 
and  spreads  blight  throughout  the  tree ;  whereas,  by  severe 
cutting,  there  is  a  chance,  at  least,  of  removing  much  of  the 
injured  wood.  We  have  gone  over  the  pear-trees  in  our 
own  garden,  and  wherever  the  least  affection  has  been  dis- 
covered, we  have  cut  out  every  particle  of  the  last  sum- 
mer's wood;  and  cut  back  until  we  reached  sound  and 
healthy  wood,  pith  and  bark. 


SLITTING    THE    BARK    OF   TREES. 

THIS  is  a  practice  very  much  followed  by  fruit-raisers. 
Downing  gives  his  sanction  to  it.  Mr.  Pell  (N.  Y.),  famous 
for  his  orchards,  includes  it  as  a  part  of  his  system  of 
orchard  cultivation.  Men  talk  of  trees  being  bark-bound, 
etc.,  and  let  out  the  bark  on  the  same  principle,  we  sup- 
pose, as  mothers  do  the  pantaloons  of  growing  boys.  We 
confess  a  prejudice  against  this  letting  out  of  the  tucks  in 
a  tree's  clothes.  We  do  not  say  that  there  may  not  be 
cases  of  diseased  trees  in  which,  as  a  remedial  process,  tliis 
may  be  wise ;  but  we  should  as  soon  think  of  slitting  the 
skin  on  a  boy's  legs,  or  on  a  calf  s  or  colt's,  as  a  regular 
part  of  a  plan  of  rearing  them,  as  to  slash  the  bark  of  sound 
and  healthy  trees.  Bark-bound!  what  is  that  ?  Does  the 
inside  of  a  tree  grow  faster  than  the  outside  ?  When  bark 
is  slit,  is  it  looser  around  the  whole  trunk  than  before  ? 
When  granulations  have  filled  up  this  artificial  channel,  is 
not  the  bark  just  as  tight  as  it  was  before  ?  Mark,  we  do 


ABOUT.    FRUITS,    FLOWERS   AND   FARMING.  253 

not  say  that  it  is  not  a  good  practice ;  but  only  that  we  do 
not  yet  understand  what  the  benefit  is. 

"  Why,  the  bark  bursts  sometimes." 

Yes,  disease  may  thus  affect  it ;  and  when  it  does,  cut  if 
necessary. 

"  Does  it  do  any  harm?"  Perhaps  not ;  neither  would  it 
to  put  a  weathercock  on  the  top  of  every  tree  ;  or  to  bury 
a  black  cat  under  the  roots,  or  to  mark  each  tree  with  talis- 
manic  signs.  Is  it  worth  while  to  do  a  thing  just  because 
it  does  no  harm  ? 

"  But  when  a  tree  is  growing  too  fast,  does  it  not  need 
it  ?"  Yes,  if  it  can  be  shown  that  the  bark,  alburnum,  etc., 
do  not  increase  alike.  That  excitement  which  increases  the 
growth  of  one  part  of  a  tree  will,  as  a  general  fact,  increase 
the  growth  of  every  other.  In  respect  to  the  fruit  and 
seed,  doubtless,  particular  manures  will  develop  special 
properties.  But  is  there  evidence  that  such  a  thing  takes 
place  in  respect  to  the  various  tissues  of  the  wood, 
bark,  etc? 

"  But  if  a  tree  be  sluggish,  and  bound,  will  it  not  help 
it  ?"  Whatever  excites  a  more  vigorous  circulation  will  be 
of  advantage.  Whether  any  supposed  advantage  from  the 
knife  arises  in  this  way,  we  do  not  know.  But  a  good 
scraping,  or  a  scouring  off  of  the  whole  body  with  sand, 
and  then  a  pungent  alkaline  wash — (soft  soap  diluted  with 
urine)  would,  we  think,  be  better  for  bark-bound  trees  than 
the  whole  tribe  of  slits,  vertical,  horizontal,  zig-zag,  or 
waved. 


HOVEY'S  MAGAZINE  OF  HORTICULTURE. — We  recommend 
all  who  can  afford  three  dollars  a  year  for  a  sterling  monthly, 
beautifully  got  up,  in  the  best  style  of  Boston  typography, 
to  send  to  Boston  for  Hovey's  Magazine.  We  give  it  an 
unqualified  recommendation,  and  those  who  take  it  one 
year  will  be  loth  to  part  with  it. 


254  PLAIN  AND  PLEASANT  TALK 


DOWNING  S    FRUIT    AND    FRUIT-TREES    OF    AMERICA. 

WHEN  a  book  is  hopelessly  weak  or  incorrect,  it  should 
l»e  the  object  of  criticism  to  exterminate  it.  But  when  a 
work  is  admitted  to  be,  upon  the  whole,  well  done,  criti- 
cism ought  to  be  an  assistance  to  it,  and  not  a  hin«lr:mce. 
Praise  by  the  wholesale  is  better  for  the  publisher  than  for 
the  reputation  of  the  author ;  since,  in  a  work  like  Down- 
ing's,  every  pomologist  knows  that  perfection  is  not  attain- 
able, and  indiscriminate  eulogy  inclines  the  better-read 
critic  to  rebut  the  praise  by  a  full  development  of  the  faults. 
Thus  on  one  side  there  is  general  praise  and  faint  blame ; 
and  on  the  other,  faint  praise  and  general  blame. 

We  shall,  at  present,  confine  our  attention  to  the  cata- 
logue of  apples  and  pears,  for  all  other  fruits  of  our  zone 
together  are  not  of  importance  equal  to  these ;  and  if  an 
author  excels  in  respect  to  these,  his  success  will  cover  a 
multitude  of  sins  in  the  treatment  of  small  fruits,  and  fruits 
of  short  duration.  Mr.  Downing  has  shown  good  judg- 
ment in  making  out  his  list  of  varieties ;  his  descriptions, 
for  the  most  part,  seem  to  be  from  his  own  senses  ;  he  has 
added  many  interesting  particulars  in  respect  to  fruits  not 
recorded  before,  or  else  scattered  in  isolated  sentences  in 
magazines  and  journals. 

But  are  his  descriptions  thorough  and  uniform  ?  While 
he  has  added  materials  to  pomology,  has  he  advanced  the 
science  by  reducing  such  materials  to  a  consistent  form  ?  If 
we  compare  Mr.  Downing's  descriptions  with  those  of  Ken- 
rick,  or  even  of  Manning,  he  excels  them  in  fullness.  If  he 
be  compared  with  classic  European  pomologists,  he  is  de- 
cidedly inferior,  both  in  the  conception  of  what  was  to  lie 
done,  and  in  a  neat,  systematic  method  of  execution.  In- 
deed, Mr.  Downing  does  not  seem  to  have  settled,  before 
hand,  in  his  mind,  &  formula  of  a  description  ;  sometimes 
only  three  or  four  characteristics  are  given.  Downing  sins 
iii  excellent  company.  There  is  not  an  American  porno- 


ABOUT  FRUITS,    FLOWEliS   AND    FAKMIXfi.  255 

logical  writer  who  appears  to  have  conceived,  even,  oi 
tematic,  scientific  description  of  fruits.  European  authors, 
decidedly  more  explicit  and  minute  than  we  are,  have  never 
reduced  the  descriptive  part  of  the  science  to  anything  like 
regularity.  We  do  not  suppose  that  there  can  be  such  exact 
and  constant  dissimilarities  detected  between  variety  and 
variety  of  a  species,  as  exists  between  species  and  species  of 
a  genus.  We  do  not  think  a  description  of  fruits  to  be  im- 
perfect, therefore,  merely  because  it  is  less  distinctive  than 
a  description  of  plants.  But  the  more  variable  and  obscure 
the  points  of  difference  between  two  varieties,  the  more 
scrupulously  careful  must  we  be  to  seize  them.  Where 
differences  are  broad  and  uniform,  science  can  afford  to  be 
careless,  but  not  where  they  are  vague  and  illusory.  We 
can  approximate  a  systematic  accuracy.  But  it  must  be  by 
making  up  in  the  number  of  determining  circumstances, 
that  which  is  wanting  in  the  invariable  distinctiveness  of  a 
few  that  are  specific. 

1.  Downing's  descriptions  are  quite  irregular  and  unequal. 
Both  his  pears  and  apples  are  imperfect,  but  not  alike  im- 
perfect. The  descriptions  of  pears  are  decidedly  in  advance 
of  those  of  the  apple.  It  would  seem  as  if  the  improve- 
ment which  he  gained  by  practice  was  very  easily  traced  in 
its  course  on  his  pages. 

Hardly  two  apples  are  described  in  reference  to  the  same 
particulars.  .  With  respect  to  color  of  skin,  size  and  form, 
eye  and  stem,  he  approaches  the  nearest  to  uniformity. 
But  with  respect  to  every  other  feature  there  is  an  utter 
want  of  regularity,  which  indicates  not  so  much  carelessness 
as  the  want  of  any  settled  plan  or  conception  of  a  perfect 
scientific  description. 

We  will,  out  of  a  multitude  of  similar  cases,  select  a  few 
as  specimens  of  what  wo  mean.  Of  the  Pumpkin  Russet, 
he  says,  "  flesh  exceedingly  rich  and  sweet ;"  but  he  does 
not  speak  of  its  texture,  whether  coarse  or  fine ;  whether 
brittle  or  leathery.  Pomme  de  Neige — "flesh  remarkably 


250  PLAIN   AND  PLEASANT  TALK 

white,  very  tender,  juicy  and  good,  with  a  slight  perfume ;" 
but  is  it  sweet  or  sour,  or  subacid,  or  astringent  ?  No  one 
ran  tell  by  reading  the  joint  descriptions  of  the  Red  and 
the  Yellow  Ingestries  what  their  flavor  is,  since  it  is  only 
said  that  they  are  "juicy  and  high  flavored" — but  whether 
the  high  flavored  juice  is  sweet  or  sour,  does  not  appear. 
These  are  not  picked  instances.  They  occur  on  almost 
every  page  of  his  list  of  apples.  The  Summer  Sweet  Para- 
dise is,  of  course,  sweet,  since  we  are  three  times  told  of  it, 
once  in  the  title  and  twice  in  the  text.  The  SWEET  Pear- 
main  also,  is  a  "  sweet  apple  "  "  of  a  very  saccharine  flavor." 
Of  course  it  is  sweet.  Nos.  67,  68,  69,  74,  75,  and  very  many 
more,  are  described  without  information  as  to  their  flavor 
except  that,  whatever  it  is,  it  is  "  brisk,"  or  "  high,"  or  "  rich" 
— forlorn  adjectives  unaffianced  to  any  substantive  which  they 
may  qualify.  Sometimes  the  health  of  the  tree  and  its  hardi- 
ness are  given,  and  as  often  omitted.  Some  times  its  habit 
of  bearing  is  mentioned,  but  oftener  neglected. .  The  color 
of  the  flesh  is  given  in  No.  82,  but  not  in  83 ;  in  84,  but  not 
in  85  ;  from  86-92  inclusive,  but  not  to  the  second  92,  for 
the  Bedfordshire  Foundling  and  the  Dutch  Mignonne  are 
both  numbered  92.  The  color  of  the  flesh  is  not  given  in  93, 
97,  100,  101,  103,  110,  although  the  intermediate  numbers 
have  it  given.  Why  should  one  be  minutely  described,  and 
another  not  all  ?  We  should  regard  it  an  ungrateful  requital 
for  all  the  pleasure  and  profit  which  this  volume  has  afforded 
us  to  hunt  up  and  display  what,  to  some,  may  seem  to  be 
mere  "jots  and  tittles,"  were  it  not  that  these,  in  them- 
selves, unimportant  things  mark  decisively  the  absence  in 
the  author's  plan,  of  a  style  of  description  which  pomology 
always  needed,  but  now  begins  imperiously  to  demand. 
And  we  are  confident  that  a  pomological  manual  on  the 
right  design,  is  yet  to  be  written.  Our  hearty  wish  is,  that 
Mr.  Do  wiring's  revised  edition  may  be  that  manual. 

2.  We  are  led,  from  these  remarks,  to  consider,  by  it- 
self, the  imperfect  scale  of  descriptions  adopted  by  all  our 


ABOUT  FRUITS,   FLOWERS  AND  FARMING.  257 

American  pomological  writers,  upon  wh.ch  Mr.  D.  has  not 
iiiutL-rially  improved. 

The  description  of  the  tree  is  very  meagre  or  totally  neg- 
lected. Nothing  at  att  is  said  of  it  in  cases  out  of  the  174 
apples  numbered  and  described.  The  general  shape  of 
the  tree  is  given  in  but  thirty-eight  instances  in  the  same 
number. 

The  color  of  the  wood  is,  usually,  noticed  in  the  account 
of  pears ;  but  in  the  account  of  apples  in  not  one  case,  we 
should  think,  in  ten. 

The  peculiar  growth  of  the  young  woody  in  a  great 
majority  of  cases,  is  not  noticed ;  but  more  frequently  in 
the  pear  than  in  the  apple  list.  The  least  practised 
observer  knows  how  striking  is  this  feature  of  the  face  of  a 
tree.  We  do  not  remember  an  instance  where  the  buds 
have  .been  employed  as  a  characteristic.  Are  distinctive 
marks  so  numerous  that  such  a  one  as  this  can  be  spared  ? 
The  shape,  color,  size,  prominence,  and  shoulder  of  buds, 
together  with  their  interstitial  spaces,  form  too  remarkable 
a  portion  of  trees  to  be  absolutely  overlooked  in  a  book 
describing  the  "fruits  and  fruit-trees  of  America." 

Equally  noticeable  is  the  almost  entire  neglect  of  the 
core  and  seed,  as  identifying  marks.  Once  in  a  while,  as  in 
the  case  of  the  Belle  Fleur,  the  Roman  Stem,  the  Spitzen- 
berg,  and  the  Pomme  Royale,  we  are  told,  that  the  cores 
are  hollow.  But  neither  among  pears  nor  apples,  is  the  core 
or  seed  made  to  be  of  any  importance.  This  is  the  more 
remarkable  as  being  a  decided  retrocession  in  the  art  of 
description.  Prince,  wisely  following  continental  authors, 
is  careful  in  his  description  of  pears,  to  give,  and  with  some 
minuteness,  the  peculiarities  of  the  seed.  But  Downing^ 
injudiciously  misled  by,  in  this  respect,  the  decidedly  bad 
example  of  British  authors,  has,  almost  without  exception, 
neglected  this  noble  criterion.  There  is  not  another  single 
feature,  either  of  fruit  or  fruit-trees,  which  we  could  not 
spare  better  than  the  core  and  seed.  Not  only  may  varie- 


258  PLAIN  AND  PLEASANT  TALK 

ties  be  marked  by  their  seeds,  but  they  form,  in  connection 
with  the  core,  important  elements  of  diagnosis  of  qualities. 
A  long-keeper,  usually  has  a  very  small,  compact  core,  with 
few  seeds.  A  highly  improved  and  luscious  pear,  not  unfrc- 
quently  is  wholly  seedless;  while  fruits  not  far  removed 
from  the  wild  state  abound  in  seeds.  Whenever  a  system 
of  description  shall  have  been  formed,  we  venture  to  predict 
that  the  core  and  seed  will  be  ranked  at  a  higher  value  in  it 
than  any  one  other  element  of  discrimination  and  description. 
The  same  neglect  or  casual  notice  is  bestowed  upon  the 
leaf.  If  anything  about  it  is  remarkable  it  is  mentioned, 
not  otherwise :  but  is  there  a  page  of  any  book  that  was 
ever  printed,  that  has  more  reading  on  it  than  is  on  a  leaf, 
if  one  is  only  taught  to  read  it  ?  Ity  too,  is  not  only  a  sign 
of  difference  but  very  often  of  quality.  Mr.  D.  has  availed 
himself  of  this  criterion  in  describing  peaches.  Is  it  a  legible 
sign  only  in  the  peach  orchard  ?  He  that  is  ignorant  of 
these  marks,  and  only  can  tell  one  fruit  from  another,  is  yet 
in  the  a  b  c  of  pomology.  Who  but  a  tyro,  on  importing 
Coe's  Golden  Drop,  would  not  at  once  perceive  the  imposi- 
tion, if  there  was  one,  the  moment  his  eye  saw  a  bud,  or  its 
shoulder  ?  Van  Mons  learned  to  select  stocks  for  his  experi- 
ments, as  well  by  the  wood  and  bud  hi  winter,  as  by  the 
leaf  and  growth  of  summer.  In  a  large  bed  of  seedlings 
every  experimenter  ought  to  know  by  wood  and  leaf  what 
to  select  as  prognosticating  good  fruit,  and  what  to  reject, 
without  waiting  to  see  the  fruit.  Nurserymen  of  our 
acquaintance,  without  book,  label,  or  stake,  can  tell  every 
well-known  variety  on  their  grounds.  One  of  our  acquain. 
tance  never  had  a  mark,  label,  stake,  or  register,  of  any 
kind  upon  his  ground ;  a  culpable  reliance  on  his  ability  to 
read  tree-faces;  for,  on  his  throwing  up  the  business  sud- 
denly, his  successor  fell  into  innumerable  mistakes.  It  is 
just  as  easy  for  a  pomologist  to  know  the  face  of  every 
variety,  as  for  a  shepherd  to  know  the  face  of  every  sheep 
in  his  flock,  or  a  grazier  every  animal  of  his  herd.  . 


ABOUT  FBUITS,   FLOWERS   AND   FARMING.  259 

3.  Although  the  "Fruit  and  Fruit-trees  of  America" 
professes  to  give  the  process  of  management  only  for  the 
garden  and  the  orchard,  it  ought  to  include,  and  we  pre- 
sume was  designed  to  embrace  the  essential  features  of 
nursery  culture.  Every  cultivator  of  fruit  must  be  a  private 
nurseryman ;  he  needs  the  same  information,  the  same  direc- 
tions as  if  he  were  a  commercial  gardener.  He  that  designs 
planting  an  orchard  ought  to  know  the  disposition  of  each 
variety  of  fruit-tree,  that  he  may  suit  the  circumstances  of 
his  soil,  or  provide  for  the  peculiarities  of  a  tree,  as  a 
farmer  needs  to  know  the  peculiarities  of  the  different 
breeds  of  hogs  and  cattle.  With  a  large  number  of  persons 
it  would  be  enough  to  say  of  fruits,  "  superb,"  "  extra- 
superb,"  "superlatively  grand,"  "extra  magnificent;"  for 
such,  a  princely  catalogue  would  answer  every  purpose. 
But  such  as  have  some  knowledge,  and  every  year,  we  are 
happy  to  believe,  the  number  of  such  increases,  ask,  not  the 
author's  bare  eulogy,  but  a  definite  statement  of  all  those 
special  qualities  on  which  such  eulogy  is  founded.  The 
exact  taste  of  each  variety  of  fruit  should  be  studied  in  res- 
pect to  soil;  some,  and  but  few,  love  strong  clays;  yet 
fewer  thrive  upon  wet  soils  ;  but  some  will,  as  the  Sweet  or 
Carolina  June,  which  does  well  on  quite  wet  soils;  some 
refuse  their  gifts  except  upon  a  warm  and  rich  sand ;  some, 
and  by  far  the  greatest  number,  love  a  deep  loam,  with  a 
subsoil  moist  without  being  wet.  The  buds  of  some  varie- 
ties escape  the  vernal  frosts  by  their  hardiness;  some  by 
putting  forth  later  than  their  orchard  brethren.  Some 
varieties  thrive  admirably  by  ground  or  root  grafting,  while 
very  many,  so  worked,  are  killed  off  during  the  first  winter; 
some  varieties,  if  budded,  grow  off  with  alacrity,  others  are 
dull  and  unwilling ;  some  form  their  tops  with  facility  and 
beauty;  others,  like  many  men,  are  rambling,  awkward, 
and  averse  to  any  head  at  all.  Some  sorts,  put  upon  what 
stock  you  will,  have  singularly  massive  roots ;  others  have 
fine  and  slender  ones.  Every  variety  of  tree  has  traits  of 


260  PLAIN  AND  PLEASANT  TALK 

disposition  peculiar  to  itself;  and  in  respect  to  traits  pos- 
sessed in  common,  even  these  may  be  classified.  In  every 
description  there  should  be,  at  least,  an  attempt  at  giving 
these  various  nursery  peculiarities.  It  canngt  be  done,  as 
yet,  with  any  considerable  accuracy.  Fruit-trees  have  not 
yet  been  minutely  studied.  A  florist  can  give  you  a  thou- 
sand times  more  minute  and  special  information  hi  respect 
to  the  peculiar  habits  and  wants  of  his  flowers,  than  an 
orchardist  can  of  his  trees.  Doubtless,  it  is  easier  to  do  it 
in  plants  which  have  a  short  period ;  whose  whole  life  passes 
along  before  the  eye  every  season,  than  in  plants  whose  vn-y 
youth  outlasts  ten  generations  of  Dahlias,  Pansies,  Balsams, 
etc.  But  that  only  makes  it  the  more  important  that  we 
should  be  up  and  doing.  Let  no  work  be  regarded  as  clas- 
sic which  does  not  take  into  its  design  the  most  thorough 
enunciation  of  all  the  peculiarities  of  fruits,  and  pomology 
will  receive  more  advantage  in  ten  years,  than  it  could  by  a 
hundred  years  of  rambling,  unregulated,  discursive  descrip- 
tions. 

The  ability  which  Mr.  D.  has  shown  as  a  horticultural 
writer,  his  industry  in  collecting  materials  for  this,  his  last 
work ;  the  skill  which  he  has  shown  himself  to  possess  in 
describing  fruits,  give  the  public  a  right  to  expect  that  he 
will  "  go  on  unto  perfection ;"  and  if  Mr.  D.  will  adopt  a 
higher  standard  and  set  out  with  a  design  of  a  more  sys- 
tematic description  of  fruits,  every  liberal  cultivator  in  the 
land  will  be  glad  to  put  at  his  disposal  whatever  of  minute 
observation  he  may  possess. 


BUCKWHEAT  is  a  corruption  rather  than  a  translation  of 
the  Saxon  word  Buckwaizen,  the  first  syllable  signifying 
beech,  the  tree  of  that  name,  whose  nut  the  kernel  of  the 
grain  so  much  resembles  in  shape.  The  grain,  therefore, 
might  be  properly  called  beech-wheat. 


ABOUT  FRUITS,    FLOWERS   AND   FARMING.  261 


LETTER    FROM  A.  J.   DOWNING. 

WE  give  below  a  letter  from  Mr.  Downing,  long  known 
as  an  eminent  pomologist  and  more  recently  yet  more 
distinguished  for  his  writings  upon  Horticultural  matters. 
Although  a  private  letter,  it  is  of  general  interest,  and  he 
will,  we  hope,  indulge  the  liberty  taken.* 

"  HIGHLAND  GARDENS,  NEWBURGH,  NEW  YORK, 
Feb.  29*A,  1846. 

"  MY  DEAR  SIR  :  I  thank  you  for  the  interesting  article 
on  horticulture  in  the  West,  which  appears  in  the  last  No. 
of  Hovey's  Magazine. 

"  My  particular  objectnn  writing  you  at  this  moment  is 
to  call  your  attention  to  the  remarks  you  make  on  the 
'Golden  Russet,'  which  you  call  'the  prince  of  small 
apples.'  From  your  description  of  this  fruit  it  is  the 
'  Sheep-nose,'  or  '  Bullock'3  Pippin '  of  Coxe,  well  known 
here,  and  one  of  the  most  melting  and  delicious  of  apples. 
I  understand  from  Professor  Kirtland  of  Cleveland,  that 
this  is  the  apple  known  by  the  name  of  Golden  Russet  in 
his  region. 

"  Will  you  do  me  the  favor,  for  the  sake  of  settling  the 
synonyms,  to  send  me  two  or  three  cuttings  of  the  young 
wood,  by  mail  ?  I  can  then  determine  in  a  moment.  The 
Sheep-nose  has  long  shoots  of  a  peculiar  drab  color.  If 
your  apple  proves  the  same,  I  think  I  shall  cancel  the  title 
'Sheep-nose' — (a  vile  name),  known  only  in  New  Jersey, 
and  substitute 'American  Golden  Russet 'f — this  being  its 
common  title  in  New  England  and  the  West.  I  speak  now 
in  relation  to  my  work  on  fruits,  now  in  press. 

"  What  do  you  mean  by  the  '  White  Bell-flower  of  Coxe  ?' 
The  Detroit  I  have  carefully  examined,  and  it  is  quite 

*  Mr.  Downing's  untimely  end  by  drowning,  is  well  known, 
f  There  is  an  English  Golden  Rus.spt,  distinct  and  quite  acid. 


2t)2,  PLAIN  AND  PLEASANT  TALK 

di ill-rent  from  the  Yellow  Bellflower.  The  Monstrous  Bell- 
flower— the  only  other  one  Coxe  describes — is  a  large 
autumn  fruit,  while  the  Detroit  keeps  till  April? 

"  My  work  on  Fruits  has  cost  me  a  great  deal  of  labor, 
but  will  still  contain  many  imperfections.  When  it  is  out 
of  press — in  about  six  weeks — I  promise  myself  the  plea- 
sure of  sending  it  with  the  copy  of  each  of  my  previous 
Avorks  for  the  acceptance  of  your  Horticultural  Society. 
And  I  then  hope  to  be  favored  with  your  criticism. 
Hoping  an  early  answer  to  my  queries  herein, 

"  I  am  sincerely  yours, 

"  A.  J.  DOWNING. 

"  H.  W.  BKECHKR." 


We  should  have  said  "  Monstrous  Bellflower  "  instead  of 
White. 

The  Bellflower  here  mentioned  is  the  White  or  Green 
Bellflower  of  Indiana,  the  Ohio  Favorite  of  western  Ohio 
about  Dayton,  etc.,  the  Hollow-cored  Pippin  of  some  ;  and 
it  has  been  inquired  for,  at  Mr.  Alldredge's  nursery,  as  the 

Cumberland  Spice.  Mr.  A considered,  from  the 

description  given,  that  the  white  Bellflower  only  could 
have  been  meant.  But  from  the  following  description  of 
Cumberland  Spice  in  Kenrick,  from  Coxe,  I  am  inclined  to 
think  that  the  true  Cumberland  Spice  may  have  been 
inquired  for. 

"  The  tree  is  very  productive  ;  a  fine  dessert  fruit,  large, 
rather  oblong,  contracted  toward  the  summit ;  the  stalk 
thick  and  short ;  of  a  pale  yellow  color,  clouded  near  the 
base ;  the  flesh  white,  tender,  and  fine.  It  ripens  in 
autumn,  and  keeps  till  winter,  and  shrivels  in  its  last 
stages." 

The  fruit  was  brought  to  Wayne  County,  Indiana,  by  Mr. 
Brunson.  He  came  from  New  York  to  Huron  county, 
Ohio,  and  thence  to  Wayne  County,  Indiana.  It  is 


A.BOUT  FRUITS,   FLOWERS   AND   FARMING.  263 

Bally  diffused  through  the  eastern  and  central  parts  of 
Indiana,  and  is  esteemed  a  first-rate  apple.  The  tree  strik- 
ingly resembles  the  Green  Newtown  Pippin,  but  its  brush  is 
not  so  small,  and  there  is  less  of  it,  the  top  being  rather 
more  open.  The  wood  is  brittle,  and,  as  the  tree  is  a  free 
:md  constant  bearer,  it  tends  to  break,  and  is  troublesome 
to  keep  in  good  order.  Mr.  Ernst  and  other  gentlemen  of 
Cincinnati  suppose  the  variety  to  be  the  Detroit.  We 
cannot  say  one  thing  or  another,  except  that  it  is  of  the 
Bellflower  family.  The  Detroit  of  New  York  is  a  widely 
different  fruit,  of  a  bright  scarlet  color,  and  we  never  heard 
of  any  other  Detroit,  until  the  name  was  applied  to  this 
apple. 

There  is  not  the  least  doubt  that  the  Golden  Russet  of  the 
West  is  the  Bullock  Pippin  and  Sheep-nose  of  New  Jersey, 
and  we  hope  that  the  proposed  name  "  American  Golden 
Russet"  will  deliver  us,  for  ever  after,  from  eating  any 
more  sheep-noses.  Names  are  of  importance  in  classifying 
fruits,  and  there  is  a  pleasure  also  in  having  a  decorous  name 
to  a  good  fruit.  It  is  amusing  to  look  through  a  catalogue 
of  singular  names. 

The  JEToss  apple  is  popularly  the  Horse  apple,  and  when, 
on  a  certain  contingency  a  gentleman  promised  to  eat  a  hoss 
it  was  not  so  hazardous  a  threat  as  some  have  imagined. 
The  French,  in  naming  their  fruits,  exercise  a  freedom  with 
things  human  and  divine,  to  which  we  occidentals  are  not 
accustomed  (as,  Ah  Mon  Dieu  !  Grosse  Cuisse  Madame, 
etc.),  and  an  innocent  person,  recapitulating  his  pears,  might, 
if  overheard  by  neighbors  understanding  French,  be 
thought  very  profane,  or  worse.  There  are  other  names 
which  have  a  tendency  to  make  the  mouth  water,  as  Onion 
Pear.  One  must  have  pleasing  associations  while  eating 
the  Toad  Pear.  (See  Prince's  Pom.  Man.  p.  24  and  34.) 
The  French  Bon  Chretien  (or  Good  Christian)  is  called  in 
these  parts  the  Bon  Cheat-em.  Then,  there  is  the  Demoi- 
selle, the  Lady's  Flesh,  and  Love's  Pear  (Prince,  58,  34, 


264  PLAIN  AND  PLEASANT  TALK 

and  117) — very  proper  for  young  lovers.  Then,  there  is 
the  Burnt  Cat  (Chat  JBrusle  of  the  French,  Prince  89), 
which  undoubtedly  has  a  musk  flavor.  "We  have  less 
objection  to  the  Priest's  Pear  (Poire  de  Pretre,  Prince, 
108).  Piscatory  gentlemen  would  always  angle  in  our  nur- 
series for  the  Trout  pear  (Prince  130),  and  if  they  did  not 
get  a  bite,  the  pear  would,  as  it  is  a  fine  variety.  How  did 
those  who  named  pears,  Louise  Bonne  de  Jersey,  or  Van 
Mons  leonle  clerc,  expect  common  folks  to  hold  fast  to  the 
true  name  ?  But  he  must  have  a  short  memory  indeed, 
who  forgets  the  emphatic  name  of  Yat  or  Yut. 

But  to  return  from  our  digression.  We  give  the  descrip- 
tion of  the  Golden  Russet  from  three  sources,  and  indorse 
their  general  accuracy: 

GOLDEN  BUSSET. — (DB.   PLUMMER.) 

"  SIZE. — 2  2-10  inches  long ;  27-10  inches  wide. 

"  FORM. — Rather  smaller  at  the  summit ;  moderately  flat- 
tened at  the  ends. 

"  PULP. — Very  tender,  juicy,  yellowish  white. 

"  COLOE. — Deep  yellow,  with  brown  and  russet  clouds  ; 
or  wholly  brown  and  russet. 

"SURFACE. — Nearly  dull;  ruffled  by  the  confluent  line- 
oles ;  dots  hardly  discoverable. 

"  FLAVOR. — Sweet  and  delicious. 

"  STEM. — Slender ;  half  to  one  inch  long,  reaching  to  a 
considerable  distance  beyond  the  verge. 

"  EYE. — In  rather  contracted  cavity ;  closed. 

"  Ripens  in  the  tenth  month. 

"  It  is  one  of  our  best  apples,  and  keeps  well  through  the 
winter." 

"  Whether  the  Leathercoat  and  the  Glass  apple  are  the 
same  as  are  now  known  under  those  names,  it  is  impossible 
to  determine.  Near  Poughkeepsie,  in  the  State  of  New 
York,  the  Leathercoat  used  to  be  a  favorite  fruit;  and 


ABOUT   FRUITS,    FLOWERS   AND   FARMING.  265 

whether  it  is  the  same  as  the  Golden  Russet,  described 
above,  I  am  not  now  able  to  say ;  but  my  recollection  of 
that  apple  after  a  lapse  of  twenty-three  years,  induces  me 
to  think  it  is  no  other  than  the  Golden  Russet ;  and,  indeed, 
Trevelyan  calls  it  also  the  '  russet  appell.'  The  Glass  apple 
was  described  in  a  former  number  of  4  The  Orchard.'  If 
the  'lethercott'  has  descended  to  us  under  the  name  of 
Golden  Russet,  the  fine  flavor  of  this  apple  would  lead  us 
to  believe  that  it  had  not  deteriorated,  after  a  period  of 
more  than  two  centuries  and  a  half." —  West.  Farm,  and 
Gard.,  1843. 

BULLOCK'S  PIPPIN,  OR  SUEEP-NOSE. — (COXE.) 

Oolden  Russet  of  Cincinnati.     Golden  Russet  of  the  Eastern, 
nurseries. — (Dr.  Kirtland.) 

"Neither  the  size  nor  appearance  of  this  fruit  would 
attract  attention ;  yet  it  sells  more  readily  in  markets  where 
it  is  known  than  any  other  apple.  Its  flavor  is  rich  and 
pleasant,  and  many  people  consider  it  the  best  fruit  of  the 
season.  In  northern  Ohio  it  matures  at  New- Year's,  while 
in  Cincinnati  it  is  in  perfection  in  November." —  West. 
Farm,  and  Gard.,  1841. 


GOLDEN  RUSSET — BULLOCK   PIPPIN,    OR   SHEEP-NOSE. — 
(A.    HAMPTON.) 

"  This  apple  is  below  medium  size ;  the  skin  is  yellow, 
inclined  to  a  russet;  the  flesh  yellow,  rich,  juicy,  tender 
and  sprightly.  I  know.of  no  apple  more  generally  admired 
for  its  richness  and  excellent  flavor  than  this ;  commanding 
a  high  price,  and  ready  sale,  in  market ;  it  makes  very  rich 
cider;  a  great  and  constant  bearer;  and  keeps  well  till 
spring." — West.  Farm,  and  Gard.j  1841. 

We  do  not  know  another  apple  whose  flavor  and  flesh 
12 


266  PLAIN   AND   PLEASANT  TALK 

arc  so  admirable.  A  gentleman  in  Ohio,  on  being  asked  for 
a  list  of  a  hundred  trees  for  an  orchard,  replied,  "set  out 
ninety-nine  Golden  Russets,  the  other  one  you  can  choose 
for  yourself." 


ATTENTION    TO    ORCHARDS. 

CLEAN  OUT  your  orchards.  Let  no  branches  lie  scattered 
around.  If  in  crops,  let  the  tillage  be  thorough  and  clean. 
In  plowing  near  the  tree  be  careful  not  to  strike  (let1)* 
enough  to  lacerate  the  small  roots  and  fibres.  An  orchard 
should  be  tended  with  a  cultivator  rather  than  a  plow,  and 
the  space  immediately  about  the  tree  should  be  worked 
with  a  hoe.  Look  to  the  fence  corners,  and  grub  out  all 
bushes,  briers  and  weeds.  A  fine  orchard  with  such  a  ruffle 
around  it,  is  like  a  handsome  woman  with  dirty  ears  and  neck. 

Pruning  may  still  be  performed.  Those  who  are  raising 
young  orchards  ought  not  to  prune  at  any  particular  time 
between  May  and  August,  but  all  along  the  season,  as  the 
tree  needs  it.  If  a  bad  branch  is  forming,  take  it  out  while 
it  is  small ;  if  too  many  are  starting,  rub  them  out  while  so 
tender  as  to  be  managed  without  a  knife  and  by  the  fingers. 
If  an  orchard  is  rightly  educated  from  the  first,  there  will 
seldom  be  a  limb  to  be  cut  off  larger  than  a  little  finger, 
and  a  pen-knife  will  be  large  enough  for  pruning.  In  the 
West  there  is  more  danger  of  pruning  too  much,  than  too 
little.  The  sun  should  never  be  allowed  to  strike  the  inside 
branches  of  a  fruit-tree.  Many  trees  are  thus  very  much 
weakened  and  even  killed  if  the  sun  is  violently  warm. 
Over-pruning  induces  the  growth  of  shoots  at  the  root, 
along  the  trunk,  and  all  along  the  branches. 

Grub  up  suckers,  and  clear  off  from  large  and  well 
established  trees  all  side-shoots.  After  a  tree  is  three  inches 


ABOUT  FBUITS,   FLOWEB8   AND   FARMING.  267 

in  diameter  through  the  stem,  it  may  be  kept  entirely  free 
of  side-shoots.  But  young  trees  are  much  assisted  in  every 
respect,  except  appearance,  by  letting  brush  grow  the  whole 
k-iigth  of  their  stem,  only  pinching  off  the  ends  of  the  whips, 
if  they  grow  too  rampantly.  In  this  way  the  leaves  afford 
great  strength  to  the  trunk,  and  prevent  its  being  spindling 
or  weak-fibred. 

Scour  off  the  dead  bark,  which,  besides  being  unsight- 
ly, is  a  harbor  for  a  great  variety  of  insects,  and  affords 
numerous  crevices  for  water  to  stand  in.  We  have  pre- 
viously recommended  soft  soap,  thinned  with  urine  to  the 
consistence  of  paint,  as  a  wash  for  trees ;  we  have  seen 
nothing  better. 

Examine  grafts  if  any  have  been  put  in.  See  if  the 
wax  excludes  the  air  entirely;  rub  out  all  shoots  which 
threaten  to  overgrow  and  exhaust  the  graft ;  if  it  is  grow- 
ing too  strongly,  it  must  be  supported,  or  it  will  blow  out 
in  some  high  wind. 

LOOK  our  FOB  BLIGHT. — All  trees  that  have  shown  no 
indications  of  blight,  wiU  be  safe  for  the  season.  But  those 
which  have  shown  the  affection  may  be  expected  to  con- 
tinue to  break  out  through  the  season.  It  is  all  important 
to  use  the  knife  freely ;  for  although  there  is  no  contagion 
from  tree  to  tree,  yet  the  diseased  sap  will,  in  the  same  tree, 
be  conveyed  from  part  to  part  over  the  whole  fabric.  But 
prompt  pruning  will  remove  the  seat  and  source  of  the  evil. 
Where  a  branch  is  affected,  cut  chips  out  of  the  bark  along 
down  for  yards ;  indeed,  examine  the  limb  entirely  home 
to  the  trunk,  and  you  may  easily  detect  any  spots  which  are 
depositories  of  this  diseased  sap,  which,  by  its  color,  and 
whole  appearance,  will  be  identified  by  the  most  unprac- 
tised eye.  Cut  everything,  below  and  aloft,  that  has  this 
feculent  sap  in  it,  even  if  you  take  off  the  whole  head  by 
the  trunk,  and  leave  only  a  stump ;  for,  the  stump  may  send 
new  shoots ;  but  if  the  tree  is  spared  from  false  tenderness 
you  will  lose  it,  bough,  trunk,  and  root. 


208  PLAIN  AND  PLEASANT  TALK 


WINE    AND    HORTICULTURE. 

"  Look  not  thou  upon  the  wine  when  it  t*  r«J,  when  it  giveth  his  color 
in  the  cup,  when  it  movcth  itself  aright" 

Now,  the  Cincinnati  Horticultural  Society  appointed  a 
committee  to  do  just  what  Solomon  says  must  not  be  done. 
Their  report  is  a  very  artful  document,  so  drawn  up  thai 
the  unwary  would  suppose  that  this  was  a  mere  business 
affair — passing  off  quite  respectably.  But  we  were  not  to 
be  deceived ;  we  instantly  saw  through  it ;  and  pencil  in 
hand,  we  noted  all  places  in  the  report  proper  to  shock  a 
true  Washingtonian  heart. 

Although  the  array  of  forty  kinds  of  wine  save  one,  did 
not  intimidate  these  hitherto  respectable  gentlemen,  it 
inspired  them  with  prudence;  and  a  German  Committee 
called  in,  to  ferret  out  any  foreign  wines  which  might  have 
been  smuggled  in  to  the  confusion  of  the  judges. 

The  committee  only  darkly  intimate  their  modus  ope- 
randi  ;  if  they  had  given  us  a  journal  of  their  doings, 
made  out  on  the  spot,  by  some  trusty  clerk,  what  a  Jmr- 
chanal  mystery  would  have  been  disclosed !  but  they  had 
discretion  enough  left  to  defer  this  until  they  were  sober 
again. 

But  Washingtonianism  is  abroad,  and  can  detect  all  the 
mysteries  of  ebriety,  however  graced  with  authority  from  a 
Horticultural  Society.  We  can  imagine  the  impatience 
with  which  the  bottles  were  preliminarily  eyed — the  entire 
moderation  with  which  each  sipped  a  few  first  specimens  ; 
we  can  see  them  gradually  warming  with  their  subject — 
tasting  with  alacrity — nodding  at  each  other,  squinting 
through  the  ruddy  glass,  smacking  their  too  often  <U-\vy 
lips,  or  wagging  their  heads  with  more  than  ordinary  salis- 
fkction  as  a  beaker  of  great  merit  made  the  facilis  </< 
8us  averni.  Laughter  interrupts  sober  attention  to  busi- 
ness; in  vain  the  chairman  thumps  the  table  for  order; 


ABOUT   FRUITS,    FLOWERS    AM)    I  AKMIN.:. 

he  gets  more  jokes  than  attention.  Many  a  sly  story  is 
told;  some  of  them  have  visited  wine  countries  and  now 
IH-HI  long  yarns  thereof;  the  clamor  of  laughing,  and 
anecdote,  and  criticism — the  necessity,  in  consequence,  of 
n -tasting,  and  tasting  again  to  arrive  at  a  conclusion, 
brought  them,  we  doubt  not,  to  a  most  lamentable  conclu- 
sion, although  the  report  only  obscurely  hints  of  it,  as  we 
shall  see.  Had  any  of  them  married  into  the  Caudle  con- 
nection we  might  have  had  a  graphic  account  of  their 
several  arrivals  at  their  homes — at  what  tune,  by  whose 
help,  in  what  condition,  etc. 

The  tabular  report  given  in  has  evidently  been  studiously 
framed.  We  suspect  that  if  the  opinions  had  been  set 
down  just  in  the  order  of  their  occurrence,  they  would 
have  afforded  an  index  of  the  condition  of  the  committee  as 
well  as  of  the  wine.  But  though  they  have  mixed  them 
up,  they  cannot  elude  our  vigilance — we  can  pick  out  the 
chronological  order.  At  first  such  opinions  as  these  were 
given:  "Tolerably  good,"  "Inferior,"  "Poor,  fermented 
on  skins."  They  were  critical  yet ;  but  warming  a  little 
they  express  more  generous  sentiments  ;  "  Good,"  "  Very 
good  Cape,"  "  Very  good,  resembling  old  Madeira."  The 
next  step  shows  the  genial  advance — some  were  getting 
disputatious.  "  Good,  considered  by  some  better  than 
No.  8,  by  others  not  so  good," — they  evidently  had  a  row 
about  it.  They  next  advanced  into  the  patriotic  mood  as 
is  seen  in  the  judgment  of  our  foreign  wines,  "Good  dry 
wine,  but  supposed  to  be  foreign,"  "Inferior,  a  foreign 
wine,"  "Not  American  wine."  Here  the  gradations  of 
contempt  are  very  plain.  We  have  next,  melancholy  evi- 
dence of  their  progress  in  the  necessity  of  a  stronger  body 
to  tla-ir  wines, — "  Not  liked,  supposed  to  have  been  injured 
in  the  bottle."  Why  not  say  it  right  out,  that  it  w:i>  a 
weak,  thin  wine?  Here  we  have  it,  "Good  strong  wine." 
The  last  record  made  is  "Good  new,  not  in  a  state  for  judg- 
ment." Does  this  refer  to  the  wine  or  to  the  committee  ? 


'2 TO  PLAIN    AND   PLEASANT  TALK 

To  the  latter  we  suppose  ;  and  at  this  point,  probably  per- 
ceiving tlu-ir  condition,  they  laid  a>ide  their  ollicial  charac- 
ter and  made  it  a  private,  personal,  and  somewhat  miscel- 
laneous affair.  We  see  now  the  moaning  of  a  sentence 
winch  follows  the  tabular  exhibit:  "The  judgments  pro- 
nounced and  recorded  in  the  foregoing  table,  were  as 
nearly  unanimous  as  can  ever  be  expected  among  so  many 
judges." 

The  committee  state  in  respect  to  western  wines  :  "That 
the  pure  juice  of  the  grape  when  judiciously  managed  will 
furnish  the  finest  kind  of  wine,  without  any  addition  or 
mixture  whatever ;  that  no  saccharine  addition  is  necessary 
to  give  it  sufficient  body  to  keep  for  any  length  of  time  in 
this  climate." 

We  submit  that  the  keeping  properties  of  wine  are  not 
altogether  intrinsic;  but  depend  much  upon  the  pcrs-.ns 
having  access  to  them,  or,  as  we  were  taught  in  school, 
"on  time,  place,  and  person."  In  our  cellar  American 
wines  would  doubtless  have  great  longevity.  We  wish  to 
call  the  attention  of  Mr.  Gough  to  the  closing  sentence  of 
the  report :  "  A  taste  for  the  wines  of  this  region  appears 
to  be  well  established,  since  all  that  can  be  produced  finds 
a  ready  market  at  good  prices ;  and  the  committee  are  of 
opinion,  that  the  period  is  not  distant  when  the  wines  of 
the  Ohio  will  enjoy  a  celebrity  equal  to  those  of  the 
Rhine." 

Here's  work  on  hand  for  him.  In  conclusion,  wo 
respectfully  suggest  that  the  same  committee  be  continued 
from  year  to  year,  as  there  is  no  use  in  spoiling  a  fresh  set 
every  year.  If  the  specimens  multiply,  perhaps  more  help 
will  be  required — at  any  rate  a  by-law  should  be  passed, 
so  that  there  shall  be  one  committee-man  to  at  least  everv 
ten  bottles. 


ABOUT   FRUITS,    FLOWERS   AND   FARMING.  271 


DO  VARIETIES    OF    FRUIT  RUN    OUT. 

Is  there  such  similarity  between  animals  and  vegetables, 
in  their  organic  structure,  development  and  functions,  as 
to  make  it  sale  to  reason  upon  the  properties  of  the  one 
from  the  known  properties  of  the  other  ? 

It  is  admitted  that  the  lowest  forms  of  vegetable  exist- 
ence are  extremely  difficult  to  be  distinguished  from  a  cor- 
responding form  of  animal  existence.  As  we  approach  the 
lower  confines  of  the  vegetable  kingdom,  flowers,  and  of 
course,  seeds,  disappear.  The  distinction  between  leaves 
and  stem  ceases ;  and,  at  last,  the  stem  and  root  are  no  lon- 
ger to  be  separated,  and  we  find  a  mere  vegetable  sheet  or 
lamina  whose  upper  surface  is  leaf  and  whose  lower  surface 
is  root.  In  a  corresponding  sphere,  animal  existence  is  re- 
duced, to  its  simplest  elements.  Whatever  resemblances 
there  are  in  the  lowest  and  rudimentary  forms  of  vegetable 
and  animal  life,  it  cannot  be  doubted  that  when  we  rise 
to  a  more  perfect  organization,  the  two  kingdom  be- 
come distinct  and  the  structure  and  functions  of  each  are 
in  such  a  sense  peculiar  to  itself,  that  he  will  grossly  mis- 
conceive the  truth  who  supposes  a  structure  or  a  function  to 
exist  in  a  vegetable,  because  such  structure  or  function 
exists  in  an  animal,  and  vice  versd.  To  be  sure,  they  resem- 
ble in  generals  but  they  differ  in  specials.  Both  begin  in  a 
seminal  point  but  the  seed  is  not  analogous ;  both  develop 
— but  not  by  an  analogous  growth  ;  both  require  food,  but 
the  selection,  the  digestion  and  the  assimilation  are  differ- 
ent. The  mineral  kingdom  is  the  lowest.  Out  of  it,  by 
help  of  the  sun  and  air,  the  vegetable  procures  its  mat  trials 
of  growth;  in  turn  the  vegetable  kingdom  is  the  magazine 
from  which  the  animal  kingdom  is  sustained  ;  to  each,  thus 
the  soil  contains  the  original  elements ;  the  vegetable  is  the 
chemical  manipulator,  and  the  animal,  the  final  recipient  of 
its  products.  The  habit  of  reasoning  from  one  to  the  other, 
of  giving  an  idea  of  the  one  by  illustrations  drawn  from  the 


272  PLAJN  AND  PLEASANT  TALK 

other,  especially  in  popular  writings,  will  always  be  fruitful 
of  iiiUi-niu-fptions  ami  mistakes. 

The  next  idea  srt  forth  in  tin-  paragraph  which  \vr  re\  ic\v,  is, 
the  essential  eftMtfidJorfty  of  buds  and  seeds.  The  writi-r 
thinks  that  a  plant  from  a  seed  is  a  new  organization,  but  a 
plant  from  a  bud  or  graft  (which  is  but  a  developed  bud)  is 
but  a  continuation  of  a  previous  plant.  With  the  exception 
of  their  integuments,  a  bud  and  a  seed  are  the  same  thing 
A  seed  is  a  bud  prepared  for  one  set  of  circumstances,  and 
a  bud  is  a  seed  prepared  for  another  set  of  circumstances — 
it  is  the  same  embryo  in  different  garments.  The  seed  lias 
boon  called,  therefore,  a  "primary  bud,"  the  dilVoionco 
beng  one  of  condition  and  not  of  nature. 

It  is  manifest,  then,  that  the  plant  which  springs  from  a 
bud  is  as  really  a  new  plant  as  that  which  springs  from  a 
seed ;  and  it  is  equally  true,  that  a  seed  may  convey  the 
weakness  and  diseases  of  its  parent  with  as  much  facility  as 
a  bud  or  a  graft  does.  If  the  feebleness  of  a  tree  is  general, 
its  functions  languid,  its  secretions  thin,  then  a  bud  or  graft 
will  be  feeble, — and  so  would  be  its  seed ;  or  if  a  tree  be 
thoroughly  tainted  with  disease,  the  buds  would  not  escape, 
nor  the  tree  springing  from  them — neither  would  its  seed, 
or  a  tree  springing  from  it.  A  tree  from  a  bud  of  the 
Doyenne  pear  is  just  as  much  a  new  tree  a?  ouo  from  its 
seed. 

The  idea  which  we  controvert  has  received  encoura  La- 
ment from  the  fact,  that  a  bud  produces  a  fruit  like  the 
parent  tree,  while,  oftentimes,  a  seed  yields  only  a  variety 
of  such  fruit.  But,  it  is  probable  that  this  is  never  the  case 
with  seeds  except  when  they  have  been  brought  into  a 
state  of  what  Van  Mons  calls  variation.  In  their  natural 
and  uncultivated  state,  seeds  will  reproduce  their  parent 
with  as  much  fidelity  as  a  bud  or  a  graft. 

The  liability  of  a  variety  to  run  out,  when  propagated  by 
bud  or  graft,  is  not  a  whit  greater  than  when  prop.igat.ed  by 
seed,  in  so  far  as  the  nature  of  the  vegetable  is  concerned. 


ABOUT   FRUITS,    FLOWERS   AND   FARMING.  273 

But  it  is  true  that  the  conditions  in  which  a  bud  grows 
render  it  liable  to  extrinsic  ills  not  incidental  to  a  plant 
springing  from  seed.  A  seed,  emitting  its  roots  directly 
into  the  earth,  is  liable  only  to  its  own  ills ;  a  bud  or  graft 
emitting  roots,  through  the  alburnum  of  the  stock  on  which 
it  is  established,  into  the  earth,  is  subject  to  the  infirmities 
of  the  stock  as  well  as  to  its  own.  Thus  a  healthy  seed 
produces  a  healthy  plant.  A  healthy  bud  may  produce 
a  feeble  plant,  because  inoculated  upon  a  diseased  branch 
or  stem. 

Instead  of  a  limitation  in  their  nature,  there  is  reason  to 
suppose  that  trees  might  flourish  to  an  indefinite  age  were 
it  not  for  extrinsic  difficulties.  A  tree,  unlike  an  animal,  is 
not  a  single,  simple  organization,  it  is  rather  a  community 
of  plants.  Every  bud  separately  is  an  elementary  plant, 
capable,  if  disjoined  from  the  branch,  of  becoming  a  tree 
by  itself.  In  fact,  each  bud  emits  roots,  which,  uniting  to- 
gether, go  down  upon  a  common  support  (the  trunk)  and 
enter  the  earth,  and  are  there  put  in  connection  with  ap- 
propriate food.  Every  fibre  of  root  maybe  traced  upward 
to  its  bud  from  which  it  issued. 

In  process  of  time,  the  elongation  of  the  trunk  exposes  it 
to  accidents;  the  branches  are  subject  to  the  force  of 
storms;  in  proportion  as  the  distance  from  the  roots 
increases,  and  the  longer  the  passages  through  which  the 
upper  sap,  or  downward  elaborated  sap  travels,  the  more 
liabilities  are  there  to  stoppage  and  injury.  The  reason  of 
decline  in  a  tree  is  not  to  be  looked  for  in  any  exhaustion 
of  vital  force  in  the  organization  itself,  but  it  is  to  be  found 
in  the  immense  surface  and  substance  exposed  to  the  wear 
and  tear  of  the  elements. 

It  would  seem,  if  this  view  be  true,  that  no  bounds  can 
be  placed  to  the  duration  of  perennial  plants,  if,  by  any 
means,  we  could  diminish  their  exposure,  by  reducing  their 
expansion,  by  keeping  them  within  a  certain  sphere  of 
growth.  Now  this  is  exactly  what  is  accomplisJicd  by  bud 

12* 


274  PLAIN   AND   PLEASANT  TALK 

ding.  A  bud,  far  removed  on  the  parent  stock  from  the 
root  and  connected  with  it  through  a  long  trunk,  is  inocu- 
lated upon  a  new  stock.  It  now  grows  with  a  comparat  i  vt-ly 
limited  exposure  to  interruption  or  accident.  The  connec- 
tion with  the  soil  is  short  and  direct. 

In  this  manner  :i  variety  of  fruit  maybe  perpetuated  to 
all  generations,  if  the  laws  of  vegetable  health  be  regarded 
in  the  process.  Healthy  buds,  worked  upon  healthy  stocks 
and  planted  in  wholesome  soil,  will  make  healthy  trees ;  and 
from  these  another  generation  may  proceed,  and  from  thc-se 
another.  By  a  due  regard  to  vegetable  physiology,  the 
Newtown  Pippin,  and  the  Seckle  Pear,  may  be  eaten  two 
thousand  years  hence,  provided,  always,  that  expounders  of 
prophesy  will  allow  us  the  use  of  the  earth  so  long  for 
orchard  purposes.  A  disregard  of  the  laws  of  vegetable 
physiology  in  the  propagation  of  varieties,  will,  on  the 
other  hand,  rapidly  deteriorate  the  most  healthy  sort. 
There  is  no  clock-work  in  the  branches  of  the  tree,  which 
finally  runs  down  past  all  winding  up ;  there  is  no  fixed 
quantity  of  vitality,  which  a  variety  at  length  uses  up,  as  a 
garrison  does  its  bread.  Plants  renew  themselves  and 
every  year  have  a  fresh  life,  and,  in  this  respect,  they  dif- 
fer essentially  from  all  forms  of  animal  existence.  Any  one 
tree  may  wear  out ;  but  a  variety,  never. 

We  need  not  say,  therefore,  that  we  dissent  from 
Knight's  theory  of  natural  exhaustion  and  from  every  sup- 
plement to  it  put  forth  since  his  day.  Van  Mons'  theory  of 
variation  and  the  tendency  of  plants  to  return  toward  their 
original  type,  is  to  be  regarded  as  nearer  the  truth. 


ABOUT  FRUITS,    FLOWERS    AND   FARMING.  275 


THE    STRAWBERRY    CONTROVERSY. 

No  man  will  deny  that  in  their  cultivated  state,  strawber- 
ries are  found,  in  respect  to  their  blossoms,  in  three  condi- 
tions :  first,  blossoms  with  stamens  alone,  the  pistillate  organs 
being  mere  rudiments ;  second,  blossoms  with  pistillate  or- 
gans developed  fully,  but  the  stamens  very  imperfect,  and 
inefficient ;  third,  blossoms  in  which  staminatc  and  pistillate 
organs  are  both  about  equally  developed. 

There  are  two  questions  arising  on  this  state  of  facts ; 
one,  a  question  of  mere  vegetable  physiology,  viz.,  Is  such 
a  state  of  organization  peculiar  to  this  plant  originally,  or 
is  it  induced  by  cultivation  ?  The  other  question  is  one  of 
eminent  practical  importance,  viz.,  What  effect  has  this  state 
of  organization  upon  the  success  of  cultivation  ? 

1  'assing  by  the  first  question,  for  the  present,  we  would 
say  of  the  second  that,  a  substantial  agreement  has  at 
length,  been  obtained.  It  is  on  all  hands  conceded  that 
staminate  plants,  or  those  possessing  only  stamens,  and  not 
pistillate  organs,  are  unfruitful.  Any  other  opinion  would 
now  be  regarded  as  an  absurdity.  It  is  equally  well  under- 
stood that  pistillate  plants,  or  those  in  which  the  female 
organs  are  fully,  and  the  male  organs  scarcely  at  all  devel- 
oped, are  unfruitful.  No  one  would  attempt  to  breed  a 
herd  of  cattle  from  males  exclusively,  or  from  females;  and, 
for  precisely  the  same  reason,  strawberries  cannot  be  had 
from  plants  substantially  male,  or  substantially  female,  where 
cadi  are  kept  to  themselves. 

But  a  difference  yet  exists  among  cultivators  -as  to  the 
facts  respecting  those  blossoms  which  contain  both  male  and 
female  organs,  or,  as  they  are  called,  perfect  flowering 
plants. 

Mr.  Longworth  states,  if  we  understand  him,  substan- 
tially, that  perfect-flowering  varieties  will  bear  but  moder 
ate  crops,  and,  usually,  of  small  fruit. 

On  the  other  hand,  Dr.  Brinkle,  whose  seedling  straw 


270  ri.AIX    AM)    PLEASANT  TALK 

berries  we  noticed  in  a  fornu-r  article,  Mr.  Downing,  and 
•;.l  other  eminent  cultivators  adopt  the  contrary  opin- 
ion, that,  with  care,  large  crops  of  large  fruit  may  be  obtained 
from  perfect-flowering  plants.  This  question  is  yet,  tlu-n, 
to  be  settled. 

It  is  ardently  to  be  hoped  that,  hereafter,  we  shall  have 
less  premature  and  positive  assertion,  upon  unripe  obsei  \  a- 
tions,  than  has  characterized  the  early  stages  of  this  con- 
troversy. Wo  will  take  the  liberty  of  following  Mr.  Ilovey 
in  liis  magazine,  between  the  years  1842  and  1846,  not  for 
any  pleasure  that  we  have  in  the  singular  vicissitudes  of  opin- 
ion chronicled  there,  but  because  an  eminent  cultivator, 
writer,  and  editor  of,  hitherto,  the  only  horticultural  maga- 
zine in  our  country,  has  such  influence  and  authority  in 
forming  the  morals  and  customs  of  the  kingdom  of  Horti- 
culture, that  every  free  subject  of  this  beautiful  realm  is 
interested  to  have  its  chiefs  men  of  such  accuracy  that  it 
will  not  be  dangerous  to  take  their  statements. 

In  1842,  Mr.  Longworth  communicated  an  article  on  the 
fertile  and  sterile  characters  of  several  varieties  of  straw- 
berries for  Mr.  Hovey's  magazine,  which  Mr.  II.  for  sub- 
ject-matter, indorsed.  In  the  November  number,  Mr.  Coit 
substantially  advocated  the  sentiments  of  Mr.  L. ;  and  the 
editor,  remarking  upon  Mr.  Coit's  article,  recognized  dis- 
tinctly the  existence  of  male  and  female  plants. 

He  (Mr.  H.)  says  that,  of  four  kinds  mentioned  by  Mr. 
C.  as  unfruitful,  two  were  so  "from  the  want  of  staminatc 
or  male  plants;"  and  "  the  cause  of  the  barrenness  is  thus 
easily  explained."  And  he  goes  on  to  explain  divers  cases 
upon  this  hypothesis ;  and  still  more  resolutely  he  says,  that 
all  wild  strawberries  have  not  perfect  flowers ;  "  in  a  dozen 
or  two  plants  which  we  examined  last  spring  some  were  per- 
fect (the  italics  are  ours)  having  both  stamens  and  pistil-; 
otters,  only  pistils,  and  others,  only  stamens;  thus  showing 
that  the  defect,  mentioned  by  Mr.  T^ongworth,  exists  in  the 
original  species."  He  closes  by  urging  cultivators  i<>  set 


ABOUT   FRUITS,    FLOWERS   AND   FARMING.  27*4 

rows  of  early  Virginia  among  the  beds  for  the  sake  of  im- 
pregnating the  rest. 

Mr.  Hovey's  next  formal  notice  was  exactly  one  year  from 
the  foregoing,  November,  1843,  and  it  appears  thus:  "  We 
believe  it  is  now  the  generally  received  opinion  of  all  intel- 
ligent cultivators  (italics  are  ours  again)  that  there  is  no 
necessity  of  making  any  distinction  in  regard  to  tJie  sexual 
character  of  the  plants  when  forming  new  beds.  The  idea 
of  male  and  female  flowers,  first  originated,  we  believe,  by 
Mr.  Longworth,  of  Ohio,  is  now  considered  as  exploded." 
Such  a  sudden  change  as  this  was  brought  about,  he  says, 
by  additional  information  received  during  that  year  by 
means  of  his  correspondents,  and  by  more  experience  on 
his  own  part.  He  says  nothing  of  male  blossoms  and  female 
blossoms,  which  he  had  himself  seen  in  wild  strawberries. 
Mr.  Hovey  then  assumed  the  theory  that  cultivation,  good 
or  bad,  is  the  cause  of  fertile  or  unfertile  beds  of  strawber- 
ries, and  he  says :  "  in  conclusion,  we  think  we  may  safely 
aver,  that  there  is  not  the  least  necessity  of  cultivating  any 
one  strawberry  near  another  (our  italics)  to  insure  the  fer- 
tility of  the  plants,  provided  they  are  under  a  proper  state 
of  cultivation." 

Mr.  Hovey  now  instituted  experiments,  which  he  prom- 
ised to  publish,  by  which  to  bring  the  matter  to  the  only 
true  test ;  and  he,  from  time  to  time,  re-promised  to  give 
the  result  to  the  public,  which,  thus  far,  we  believe,  he  has 
forgotten  to  do. 

His  magazine  for  1844  opens,  as  tl.at  of  1843  closed  ;  and 
in  the  first  number  he  says,  "  the  oftener  our  attention  is 
culled  to  this  subject,  the  more  we  feel  confirmed  in  the 
opinon  that  the  theory  of  Mr.  Longworth  is  entirely  iin- 
iimnded;  that  there  is  no  such  thing  as  male  and  female 
plants,  though  certain  causes  may  produce,  as  we  know 
they  have,  fertile  and  sterije  ones." 

Nevertheless,  in  the  next  issue  but  one  this  peremptory 
language  is  again  softened  down,  and  a  doubt  even  appears, 


278  PLAIN    ASM    1M  KASANT   TALK 

M!I m  he  says,  "Ir  Mr.  Longwortfcs  tlieory  should  prove 
true,"  ct>:  \Ve,  among  others,  waited  anxiously  for  the 
promised  experiment*;  but  it' published  we  never  saw  them. 
The  subject  rather  died  out  of  his  maga/ine  until  August, 
1845,  when,  in  speaking  of  the  Boston  Pine,  a  second  tine 
seedling  of  Iiis  own  raising,  he  is  seen  bearing  away  on  the 
other  tack,  if  not  with  all  sails  set,  yet  with  enough  to  give 
the  ship  headway  in  the  right  direction:  "Let  the  cau>es 
be  what  they  may,  it  is  sufficient  for  all  practical  purposes, 
to  know,  that  the  most  abundant  crops  (italics  ours)  can  be 
produced  by  planting  some  sort  abounding  in  staminate 
flowers,  in  the  near  vicinity  of  those  which  do  not  possess 
them."  P.  293.  And  on  p.  444  he  reiterates  the  advice  to 
plant  near  the  staminate  varieties.  In  the  August  number 
for  1846,  p.  309,  Mr.  Hovey  shows  himself  a  thorough  con- 
vert to  Mr.  Longworth's  views,  by  indorsing,  in  the  main, 
the  report  of  the  committee  of  the  Cincinnati  Horticultural 
Society.  We  hope  after  so  various  a  voyage,  touching  at  so 
many  points,  that  he  will  now  abide  steadfast  in  the  truth. 
We  look  upon  this  as  a  very  grave  matter,  not  because 
the  strawberry  question  is  of  such  paramount,  although  it  is 
of  no  inconsiderable  importance  ;  but  it  is  of  importance 
whether  accredited  scientific  magazines  should  be  trust- 
worthy; whether  writers  or  popular  editors  should  be 
responsible  for  mistakes  entirely  unnecessary.  We  blame 
no  man  for  vacillation,  while  yet  in  the  process  of  investi- 
gation, nor  for  coming  at  the  truth  gradually,  since  this  is 
the  necessity  of  our  condition  to  learn  only  by  degrees,  and 
by  painful  siftings.  The  very  first  requisite  for  a  writer  is, 
that  he  be  worthy  of  trust  in  his  statements.  No  man  can 
be  trusted  who  ventures  opinions  upon  uninvestigated  mat- 
ters; who  states  facts  with  assurance  which  he  has  not 
really  ascertained;  who  evinces  rashness,  haste,  careless- 
ness, credulity,  or  fickleness  in  bis  judgments.  The  ques- 
tion of  perfect  or  imperfect  blossoms  depends  upon  the  sim- 
plest exercise  of  eyesight.  It  requires  no  measurements, 


ABOUT   FRUITS,    FLOWERS   AND   FARMING.  279 

ii"  process  of  the  laboratory,  no  minute  dissections  or  nice 
calculations ;  it  requires  only  that  a  man  should  see  what 
he  looks  at. 

When  a  boy,  playing  "  how  many  fingers  do  I  hold  up," 
by  dint  of  peeping  from  under  the  bandage,  we  managed  to 
make  very  clever  guesses  of  how  many  lily-fingers  some 
roguish  lassie  was  holding  in  tempting  show  before  our  ban- 
<  lauyd  eyes ;  but  some  folks  are  not  half  so  lucky  with  both 
eyes  wide  open,  and  the  stamens  and  pistils  standing  before 
them. 

If  such  a  latitude  is  permitted  to  those  who  conduct  the 
investigations  peculiar  to  horticulture,  who  can  confide  in 
the  publication  of  facts,  observations  or  experiments  ?  Of 
what  use  will  be  journals  and  magazines?  They  become 
like  chronometers  that  will  not  keep  time ;  like  a  compass 
that  has  lost  its  magnetic  sensibility ;  like  a  guide  who  has 
lost  his  own  way.  and  leads  his  followers  through  brake, 
and  morass,  and  thicket,  into  interminable  wanderings. 
Sometimes,  the  consciousness  of  faults  in  ourselves,  which 
should  make  us  lenient  toward  others,  only  serves  to  pro- 
duce irritable  fault-finding.  After  a  comparison  of  opinions 
and  facts,  through  a  space  of  five  years,  with  the  most  dis- 
tinguished cultivators,  East  and  West,  Mr.  Longworth  is 
now  universally  admitted  to  have  sustained  himself  in  all 
the  essential  points  which  he  first  promulgated — not  discov- 
ered, for  he  made  no  claims  of  that  sort.  The  gardeners 
and  the  magazines  of  the  East  have,  at  length,  adopted  his 
practical  views,  after  having  stoutly,  many  of  them,  con- 
tested them. 

It  was,  therefore,  with  unfeigned  surprise,  that  we  iva.l 
Mr.  Ilovey's  latest  remarks  in  the  September  number  of  his 
magazine,  in  which,  with  some  asperity,  he  roundly  charges 
Mr.  Longworth  with  manifold  errors,  and  treats  him  with 
a  contempt  which  would  l<-ad  one,  ignorant  of  the  con- 
troversy, to  suppose  that  Mr.  Ilovey  had  never  made  a 
mistake,  and  that  Mr.  Longworth  had  been  particularly 


280  PLAIN    AND   PLEASANT  TALK 

fertile  of  them.  Thus :  "  Mr.  Longworth's  remarks  abound 
in  so  many  errors  and  iuconM>tt  m  it  <,  that  we  shall  expect 
scarcely  to  notice  all."  "  Another  gross  assertion,"  etc.  Re- 
ferring to  another  topic,  he  says,  "  This  question  we,  there- 
fore, consider  as  satisfactorily  settled,  without  discussing 
Mr.  Longworth's  conflicting  views  about  male  and  female, 
Keen's,"  etc. 

This  somewhat  tragical  comedy  is  now  nearly  played  out, 
and  we  have  spoken  a  word  just  before  the  fall  of  the  cur- 
tain, because,  as  chroniclers  of  events,  and  critics  of  horti- 
rultural  literature  and  learning,  it  seemed  no  less  than  our 
duty.  We  have  highly  appreciated  Mr.  Hovey's  various 
exertions  for  the  promotion  of  the  art  and  science  of  horti- 
culture, nor  will  his  manifest  errors  and  short-comings  in 
this  particular  instance,  disincline  us  to  receive  from  his  pen 
whatsoever  is  good. 

We  hope  that  our  remarks  will  not  be  construed 
defence  of  western  men  or  western  theories,  but  as  the 
defence  of  the  truth,  and  of  one  who  has  truly  expounded 
it,  though,  in  this  case,  theory  and  its  defender  happen  to 
be  of  western  origin.  Whatever  errors  have  crept  into 
Mr.  Longworth's  remarks  should  be  faithfully  expurgated ; 
and  perhaps  it  may  be  Mr.  Hovey's  duty  to  perform  the 
lustration.  If  so,  courtesy  would  seem  to  require  that  it 
should  be  done  with  some  consciousness,  that  through  this 
whole  controversy  Mr.  Longworth  is  now  admitted  to  have 
been  right  in  all  essential  matters ;  and  if,  in  error  at  all, 
only  in  minor  particulars,  while  Mr.  Hovey,  in  all  the  con- 
troversy, in  respect  to  the  plainest  facts,  has  been  chamr'niLT 
from  wrong  to  right,  from  right  to  wrong,  and  from  wrong 
back  to  right  again.  We  do  not  think  that  the  admirable 
benefits  which  Mr.  Longworth  has  conferred  upon  the 
whole  community  by  urging  the  improved  method  of  culti- 
vating the  strawberry,  has  been  adequately  appreciate!. 
We  still  less  like  to  see  gratitude  expressed  in  the  shape  of 
snarling  gibes  and  petty  cavils. 


ABOUT    FRUITS,   FLOWERS   AND   FARMING.  281 

We  will  close  these  remarks  by  the  correction  of  a  matter 
which  Mr.  Downing  states.  While  he  assents  to  all  the 
2>r<i'-(iral  aspects  of  Mr.  Longworth's  views,  he  dissents  as 
to  some  matters  of  fact  and  philosophy,  and  among  others, 
to  the  fact  that  Hovey's  seedling  is  always  and  only  a  pis- 
tillate plant.  He  thinks  that  originally  it  had  perfect  flow- 
ers, but  that  after  bearing  twice  or  thrice  on  the  same  roots 
the  plants  degenerate  and  become  either  pistillate  or  stami- 
nate.  He  says,  "  Hovey's  seedling  strawberry,  at  first, 
was  a  perfect  sort  in  its  flower,  but  at  this  moment  more 
than  half  the  plants  in  this  country  have  become  pistillate." 

Mr.  Hovey  himself  states  the  contrary  on  p.  1 1 2  of  his 
magazine  for  1844.  He  denies  that  there  are  two  kinds 
of  blossoms  to  his  seedling,  and  says,  "  the  flowers  are  all 
of  one  kind,  with  both  pistils  and  stamens,  but  the  latter 
quite  short  and  hidden  under  the  receptacle"  This  is  the 
common  form  of  all  pistillate  blossoms,  and  shows,  in  so  far 
as  Mr.  Hovey's  observations  are  to  be  trusted,  that,  at  its 
starting-point  and  home,  Hovey's  seedling  was,  as  with  us  it 
now  invariably  is,  so  far  as  we  have  ever  seen  it,  a  pistillate 
plant. 


STRAWBER  R  I  ES. 

DIRECTIONS  for  the  culture  of  the  strawberry  will  vary 
with  circumstances ;  as,  whether  it  is  raised  for  private  use, 
or  for  market.  But,  for  whatever  purpose  cultivated, 
respect  must  be  invariably  had  to  the  fact  of  staminate  and 
pistillate  flowers,  or  male  and  female.  Each,  flower  contains 
the  rudiments  of  both  the  male  and  female  organs.  But  the 
male  organs  are  more  or  less  defective  in  one  set  of  plants 
and  the  female  in  another  "and,  in  the  Hudson  and  some 
others,  it  amounts  to  a  complete  separation  of  the  sexes. 
In  some  of  the  male  (stamiuate)  varieties  more  or  less  of 


PLAIN  AND   PLEASANT  TALK 

the  blossoms  arc  also  partially  perfect  in  the  female  organs 
ami  will  produce  some  fruit. 

M  Kvrry  flower  contains  both  the  male  and  female  organs ; 
and,  in  the  white  and  monthly,  both  organs  are  always 
perfect  in  the  same  blossom,  as  far  as  my  experience  goes. 
In  other  kinds,  the  male  organs  are  more  or  less  defective 
in  one  set  of  plants,  and  the  female  in  the  other ;  and,  in 
the  Hudson  and  some  other  varieties,  it  amounts  to  a  cnm- 
plete  separation  of  the  sexes.  The  male  organs  are  so 
defective  in  one  set  of  plants,  and  the  female  in  the  other, 
that  an  acre  of  either  would  not  produce  a  single  fruit.  In 
some  of  the  male  (staminate)  varieties,  more  or  less  of  the 
blossoms  are  also  more  or  less  perfect  in  the  female  or  trans, 
and  will  produce  more  or  less  fruit ;  but  I  have  never  seen  a 
female  plant  with  the  male  organs  sufficiently  developed  to 
produce  a  single  perfect  fruit.  Hovey's  seedling,  and  some 
others,  may  produce  deformed  berries." — Longworth. 

Mr.  Longworth,  in  consequence  of  this  fact,  always  has 
a  compartment  allotted  to  male  and  one  to  female  plants, 
and  out  of  these  he  forms  his  beds,  being  able  thus  to 
insure  a  proper  proportion  of  males  to  females.  Mr.  S.  S. 
Jackson,  a  very  skillful  nurseryman  of  Cincinnati,  usually, 
in  selling  plants,  puts  up  ninety  females  to  ten  males  in  the 
hundred. 

We  shall  now  give  the  time  and  manner  of  planting  of 
some  of  the  best  cultivators  in  the  West,  at  the  East,  and  in 
England. 

MrT  Jackson  says  :  "  I  plant  any  time  from  the  first  of 
April,  till  they  are  in  bloom.  I,  one  year,  planted  twenty- 
five  square  roods  of  ground  ;  the  plants  were  all  in  bloom 
when  set  out;  and  the  next  year  I  picked  thirty-eight 
bushels,  and  there  were  fully  ten  bushels  left  on  the 
vines. 

"I  plant  them  in  this  way:  first,  plow  or  spade  tho 
ground;  harrow  it  smooth;  then  strain  aline  on  one  side 
nine  inches  from  the  edge,  and  a  row  !'n>m  twelve  to  fifteen 


ABOUT  FRUITS,    Fl.oWKRS   AND  FARMING.  283 

inches  apart ;  then  move  the  line  eighteen  inches,  and  plant 
another  row;  then  move  it  three  feet,  and  again  eighteen 
inches — and  so  on  till  the  ground  is  planted.  I  then  go 
over  and  put  one  male  plant  every  six  feet,  between  the 
two  rows.  Keep  them  clear  of  weeds  through  the  summer, 
and  let  them  spread  as  much  as  they  will. 

"  In  the  fall  dress  the  out-walks  eighteen  inches  wide, 
which  will  leave  the  beds  three  feet  wide ;  and  when  it  sets 
in  cold,  give  them  a  light  covering  of  straw ;  rake  it  off  in 
the  spring.  You  may  then  expect  a  full  crop.  It  is  best  to 
make  a  new  bed  once  in  two  or  three  years." 

But  plantations  may  be  made  through  the  summer,  and 
as  late  as  September ;  of  course,  the  earlier  in  the  season 
the  better  established  the  plants  will  become  before  winter, 
and  the  larger  the  next  summer's  crop.  Thus,  a  bed 
formed  in  September  would  bear  very  scantily  ;  while  .Mr. 
Jackson's  beds,  formed  in  the  spring,  produced  a  large 
crop  the  next  season. 

Mr.  Kenrick  gives  the  following  methods  as  practised  by 
market  gardeners  near  Boston  ;  the  first  one  strikes  us  as 
being  the  most  economical  way  of  working  strawberries, 
on  a  large  scale,  that  we  have  seen : 

"  In  the  vicinity  of  Boston,  the  following  mode  is  often 
adopted.  The  vines  are  usually  transplanted  in  August. 
The  rows  are  formed  from  eighteen  inches  to  two  feet 
asunder.  The  runners,  during  the  first  year,  are  destroyed. 
In  the  second  year,  they  are  suffered  to  grow  and  fill  the 
interval,  and  in  the  autumn  of  that  year,  the  whole  old  rows 
are  turned  under  with  the  spade,  and  the  rows  are  thus 
si  lifted  to  the  middle  of  the  space.  The  same  process  is 
repeated  every  second  year. 

M  Another  mode,  which  maybe  recommended  generally,  is 
to  plant  the  strawberries  in  rows  thirty  inches  asunder,  and 
nine  inches  distant  in  the  row,  and  suffer  the  vines  to 
extend  to  the  width  of  eighteen  inches,  leaving  twelve 
inches'  space  for  an  alley ;  or  allow  eighteen  inches'  width 


284  1'I.AIN  AND  PLEASANT  TALK 

to  the  alleys,  an«l  throe  feet  asunder  to  the  rows;  and  to 
form  new  rv  three  years,  or  never  to  suffer  the  bed 

to  exist  over  lour  years ;  and  to  plant  out  in  August  in 
^reference  to  spring." 

Dr.  Bayne  of  Alexandria,  D.  C.,  gives  his  methyl 
of  producing  very  large  fruit.  The  peculiarity  of  his 
treatment  is  the  use  of  undecomposed  or  green  manure. 
Almost  every  other  cultivator  recommends  well  rotted 
manure  ;  and,  we  are  inclined  to  think,  with  the  better 
reason.  "We  have  found  some  English  cultivators  who 
agree  with  him;  but  the  most  dissuade  from  the  practice, 
as  making  plants  productive  of  leaves  rather  than  fruit. 

"  To  produce  strawberries  of  extraordinary  size  for  exhi- 
bition, I  would  recommend  the  following  preparation : 
select  the  best  soil  and  trench  it  at  least  two  feet  deep ; 
incorporate  well  with  the  first  twelve  inches  an  abundance 
of  strong  undecomposed  manure ;  pulverize  and  rake  the 
ground  well,  then  mark  off  the  rows  twelve  or  fifteen  inches 
asunder,  and  set  the  plants  in  the  rows  from  twelve  to 
fjfteen  inches,  according  to  the  luxuriance  and  vigor  of  the 
variety.  During  the  first  year,  the  runners  must  be  care- 
fully and  frequently  destroyed  before  they  become  rooted. 
By  this  means  the  stools  become  very  vigorous  and  bear  the 
most  abundant  crops.  In  the  spring  after  the  fruit  is  set, 
place  around  each  plant  a  small  quantity  of  straw,  or  what 
is  much  better,  cover  the  whole  surface  of  the  ground  one 
inch  thick  with  wheat  chaff.  This  prevents  evaporation, 
protects  the  fruit  from  the  earth,  improves  the  flavor,  and 
will  greatly  increase  the  size." 

Loudon  gives  Garnier's  method  of  treating  the  straw- 
berry as  an  annual.  It  is  peculiarly  applicable  to  small 
gardens.  The  observations  on  the  depth  of  soil  required, 
are  worthy  of  especial  attention  : 

"  Early  in  August,  or  as  soon  as  the  gathering  is  over,  I 
destroy  all  my  beds,  and  proceed  immediately  to  trench, 
form,  and  manure  them  in  the  manner  before  directed,  to 


ABOUT   FRUITS,    FLOWERS    AND   FARMING.  285 

receive  the  plants  for  the  crop  of  the  ensuing  year,  taking 
care  to  select  for  that  purpose  the  strongest  and  best-rooted 
runners  from  the  old  rejected  plants.  If  at  this  season  the 
weather  should  be  particularly  hot,  and  the  surface  of  the 
ground  much  parched,  I  defer  the  operation  of  preparing 
my  beds  and  planting  them  till  the  ground  is  moistened  by 
rain.  Such  is  the  simple  mode  of  treatment  which  I  have 
adopted  for  three  successive  years,  and  I  have  invariably 
obtained  upon  the  same  spot,  a  great  produce  of  beautiful 
fruit,  superior  to  that  of  every  other  garden  in  the  neighbor- 
hood. Depth  of  soil  I  have  found  absolutely  necessary  for 
the  growth  and  production  of  fine  strawberries,  and  when 
this  is  not  to  be  obtained,  it  is  useless,  in  my  opinion,  to 
plant  many  of  the  best  varieties.  It  is  not  generally  known, 
but  I  have  ascertained  the  fact,  that  most  strawberries 
generate  roots,  and  strike  them  into  the  ground,  nearly  two 
feet  deep  in  the  course  of  one  season.  The  practice  of 
renewing  strawberry  plantations  every  year,  and  even  of 
using  runners  of  the  current  year  for  forcing,  is  now  become 
very  general  among  gardeners.  Mr.  Knight  generally 
adopts  this  mode,  and,  notwithstanding  the  increased  labor 
attending  it,  it  is  even  adopted  by  some  market-gardeners 
about  London  for  their  earliest  crops.  It  is  invariably 
found  that  by  this  mode  the  fruit  not  only  comes  larger, 
but  somewhat  earlier.  It  must  always  be  recollected,  how 
ever,  by  those  who  intend  practising  it,  that  almost  the 
whole  of  the  success  depends  on  bringing  forward  the 
earliest  runners,  by  encouraging  them  to  root.  This  is 
done  by  stirring  the  soil  beneath  them,  hooking  them 
down,  or  retaining  them  in  their  proper  places  by  small 
stones ;  or,  when  the  object  is  to  procure  plants  for  forcing 
rooting  them  into  small  pots." 


PLAIN  AND  PLEASANT  TALK 


RASPBERRIES,    STRAWBERRIES,    GOOSEBERRIES    AND    CURRANTS. 

CURRANTS,  Gooseberries,  Raspberries,  Strftwfeorfoft,  etc., 

are  termed  -Small  Fruit."  We  will  give  some  directions 
for  spring- work  which  these  require. 

IiAsri;i:i:i:n:s. — The  sorts  usually  found  in  our  gardens  arc 
rejected  from  all  good  collections  as  worthless.  The  Ant- 
werp, red  and  white,  have,  until  lately,  been  regarded  as 
the  best.  Two  new  kinds  are  very  highly  thought  of — 
the  Franconia  and  the  Fastolf.  This  last  is  an  Kng- 
lish  variety;  was  found  growing  on  a  gentleman's  ground 
among  some  lime  and  brick  rubbish — evidently  a  seedling 
— and  removed  to  his  garden.  It  was  a  number  of  years 
before  it  attracted  attention;  but,  lately,  it  has  been  much 
in  demand  and  bids  fair  to  claim  a  rank  among  the  first,  if 
it  is  not  the  first. 

A  deep,  rich,  loamy  soil  which  is  moist,  proves  best  for 
this  fruit.  It  prefers  a  half  shady  position. 

When  first  planted,  put  them  four  feet  apart  in  the  row, 
and  the  rows  three  feet  from  each  other. 

In  old  beds  cut  out  the  last  year's  bearing  icood,  now 
worthless,  and  also  all  the  new  shoots  but  four  or  five  to  a 
root;  grub  up  all  that  have  come  up  between  the  fOWB. 
Cut  those  which  are  reserved  for  bearing  to  about  live  feet 
in  length,  and  tie  them  gently  to  a  stake.  Thus  treated 
from  year  to  year,  and  well  manured,  raspberries  will  return 
a  rich  reward. 

STRAWBERRIES. — The  number  of  kinds  is  immense.  Knight, 
late  president  of  the  London  Horticultural  Society,  had/crar 
hundred  kinds  in  his  garden,  and  most  of  them  seedlings  of 
his  own  raising.  The  early  Virginia  is  regarded  as  tin- 
best  early  kind.  Hovey's,  Warren's  and  Keen's  seedling 
are  admirable  sorts.  Wiley's  and  Motter's  seedlings  ori- 
ginated in  Cincinnati  and  arc  esteemed.  There  arc  many 
other  fine  sorts  which  an  amateur  cultivator  would  wish, 


ABOUT  FRUITS,    FLOWERS   AND  FARMING.  287 

not  necessary  to  common  gardens,  where  two  or  three 
choice  sorts  will  suffice. 

Almost  every  cultivator  has  a  way  of  his  own  in  raising 
strawberries. 

In  private  gardens,  in  a  soil  well  enriched  and  deeply 

spuded,  let  beds  be  formed  about  four  feet  wide;  upon 

set  three  rows  of  hills  and  the  plants  about  fifteen 

Belies  apart  in  the  row.    Pinch  off  all  runners  through  the 

season,  unless  they  are  wanted  for  new  plants. 

Old  beds,  grown  over  and  matted,  had  better  be  des- 
troyed ;  but  if,  for  any  reason,  it  is  desirable  to  save  them, 
mark  out  lines  every  eighteen  inches  and  dig  alleys  through 
the  l»ed,  by  turning  the  plants  under.  In  this  way  the  patch 
will  l>e  tin-own  into  beds  of  eighteen  inches  width.  Before 
this  is  done  take  an  iron-toothed  rake  and  rake  the  bed 
severely.  Do  not  be  afraid  of  tearing  the  plants ;  go  over 
the  whole  bed  thoroughly.  It  will  seem  as  if  scarcely  a 
dozen  plants  were  left,  but  in  a  few  weeks  your  bed  will  be 
entirely  covered  with  a  strong  growth. 

GOOSEBERRIES. — This  fruit  is  very  much  neglected  because 
its  merits  are  only  little  known.  There  are  two  sorts  found 
in  our  gardens,  the  common  gooseberry  and  English,  by 
wh irh  name  is  meant  a  large,  coarse,  thick-skinned  green 
variety.  It  is  not  generally  known  that  there  are  any  other 
cultivated  sorts ;  and  as  these  are  inferior  they  are  little 
cared  for.  The  Lancashire  (England)  Nurserymen  publish 
300  varieties!  The  select  list  of  Mr.  Thompson  of  the  Lon- 
don Horticultural  Society's  garden  comprises  fifty-six 
varieties ;  the  still  more  condensed  select  list  of  Robert 
Mnmhifj  (Mass.)  includes  twenty-eight  sorts.  Some  of 
tlu-sr  Itear  fruit  as  large  as  a  medium-sized  plum.  There 
are  four  colors,  red,  yellow,  green  and  white;  to  each  color 
are  two  M/.I-S,  large  and  small  fruits.  Those  who  have  not 
Been  and  tasted  the  Scotch  and  Lancashire  varieties  of  the 
gooseberry  do  not  km»w  what  the  fruit  is.  In  sending  foi 
them,  select  a  trustworthy  nurseryman,  and  request  him  to 


I 

288  PLAIN  AND  PLEASANT  TALK 

send,  of  each  color,  such  kinds  as  have  proved,  with  him, 
the  best ;  and  in  such  numbers  as  you  may  wish.  The 
gooseberry  delights  in  three  things,  a  very  rich  soil,  a  shady 
position,  and  a  free  circulation  of  air.  If  accommodated  in 
these  respects,  it  will  be  free  from  mildew  and  give  a  sure 
and  ample  crop  of  delicious  fruit. 

Hill-tops  are  the  best  sites.  In  gardens  the  open  and  airy 
parts  should  be  selected;  in  low  and  confined  situations 
they  mildew.  Hog  manure  is  esteemed  the  best  for  this 
fruit.  When  the  fruit  begins  to  set,  if  threatened  with 
blight,  take  a  moderately  strong  lime-water  (sulphur  added 
will  be  all  the  better)  or,  if  lime  is  not  convenient,  lye  from 
wood  ashes,  and  drench  the  bushes  freely  with  it.  A  large 
watering-pot  should  be  employed.  Gooseberries  may  be  in- 
creased from  cuttings  like  the  currant,  and  with  the  same  ease. 

CURRANTS. — There  are  very  few  varieties  of  this  fruit. 
Our  common  red  and  white,  if  well  cultivated,  are  very 
good.  The  Large  Dutch  Red,  and  White,  are  much  larger 
varieties  and  generally  preferred  in  the  best  Eastern  gar- 
dens. Every  farmer,  if  he  has  nothing  else,  has  a  long  row 
of  currant  bushes,  and  gets,  usually,  five  times  as  many  cur- 
rants as  he  can  consume.  Very  few  fruits  nave  so  few 
diseases  incident  to  them  as  the  currant.  It  is  not  infested 
with  worms,  its  fruit  is  subject  to  no  blight,  it  bears  every 
year,  is  rarely  affected  either  by  severe  winters  or  late 
frosts,  and  we  do  not  remember  a  season  in  our  lives  when 
there  was  not,  at  least,  a  partial  currant  crop. 

We  advise  those  who  are  careful  in  such  matters  to  train 
their  currants  to  a  tree  form  /  let  a  cutting  be  set,  rub  out 
all  the  buds  but  two  or  three  at  the  top ;  at  about  twelve 
or  fifteen  inches  from  the  earth  let  the  branches  put  out, 
and  never  permit  suckers  to  grow,  or  branches  to  stand 
lower  than  this.  The  difficulty  which  some  have  found  in 
tree  currants,  that  they  are  top-heavy  and  require  staking 
to  prevent  their  being  bent  by  winds  and  their  own  weight, 
arises  from  having  the  stem  too  long.  We  have  seen  two 


ABOUT  FRUITS,    FLOWERS   AND   FARMING.  289 

feet  and  even  more  allowed.  If  twelve  or  fifteen  inches  be 
allowed,  the  stem,  in  a  few  years,  will  become  strong 
enough  to  withstand  winds  and  sustain  its  own  top.  Thus 
formed  they  are  beautiful  to  the  eye,  convenient  for  borders, 
allow  a  free  circulation  of  ah*  under  and  through  them,  are 
easy  to  work  in  spring  or  for  manuring,  and  easy  to  prune, 
when,  as  should  be  done  every  year,  you  take  out  the  old 
wood. 

Gooseberries  will  do  better  to  be  trained  in  this  way, 
than  in  the  bush  form.  The  top  once  formed,  there  is  no 
difficulty  in  keeping  it  so.  If  you  are  faithful  to  grub  up 
every  sucker  for  one  season  you  will  have  few  to  plague 
you  after  that. 

Gooseberries,  Raspberries,  Strawberries  and  Currants 
ought  to  be  found  in  every  farmer's  garden.  The  trouble 
of  cultivation  is  slight  and  the  return  of  wholesome  fruit 
very  great.  One  woman  can,  for  the  most  part,  bestow  all 
the  attention  which  they  need. 


SPRING-WORK    IN    THE    ORCHARD. 

1.  THERE  is  a  great  deal  more  pruning  done  than  is  need- 
ful or  healthful.     Our  hot  summers  and  strong  growth  of 
wood  make  every  leaf  on  the  tree  precious.     Dead  limbs 
should  be  taken  out.    Where  the  tree  is  really  tangled  with 
wood,  thin  out.     Where  branches  are  rubbing  across  each 
other  severely,  take  off  one  of  them.     Grub  up  every  water- 
sprout  from  the  roots.     If  you  can  avoid  it,  do  not  use  them 
for  trees,  for  the  tree  thus  obtained  will  inherit  the  same 
propensity   of  sending    up    \\atrr-shoots.      Sometimes,   in 
scarcity  of  stock,  they  are  used  rather  than  to  have  none, 
but  it  is  then  only  a  lesser  of  two  evils. 

2.  TIME  OF  PRUNING. — There  is  a  bad  practice  abroad  of 
pruning  before  the  leaves  are  out.    English  books  direct  to 

13 


290  PLAIN  AND  PLEASANT  TALK 

prune  in  February,  and  we  suspect  that  the  custom  sprang 
up  at  the  East  from  the  old  country  example.  It  is  not  sate 
lor  us  to  follow  the  specific  processes  of  Great  Britain  or 
the  Cont  iniMit.  OUR  OWN  well  settled  experience  is  to  be  our 
rule  of  practice. 

There  is  no  better  month  in  the  year  to  prune,  than  that 
month  in  which  the  tree  is  making  the  most  wood.  It  is 
plain  that  the  sooner  a  wound  heals  the  better;  and  equally 
plain,  that  a  tree  which  is  growing  will  heal  a  wound 
quicker  than  an  inactive  tree.  All  the  matter  which  goes 
to  form  wood,  or  to  form  the  granulations  by  which  a  cut 
heals,  comes  from  the  downward  current  of  sap,  or  sap 
which  has  been  elaborated  in  the  leaf.  Of  course  when  the 
tree  has  the  most  leaves,  and  the  leaves  are  preparing  the 
greatest  quantity  of  proper  juice  or  elaborated  sap,  that  is 
the  time  for  pruning,  because  the  time  for  healing.  In  this 
climate  we  have  preferred  the  last  of  May  for  spring  prun- 
ing, and  the  last  of  August  for  summer  pruning — the  exact 
week  varying  as  the  season  is  forward  or  backward. 

3.  INSTEAD  OF  PRUNING  AT  THIS  EARLY  PERIOD,  LET  TREES 
BE  THOROUGHLY  SCRAPED  AND   SCOURED. — A  three-sided 
scraper,  such  as  butchers  use  to  clean  their  blocks  with,  or 
any  convenient  implement,  may  be  applied  to  the  trunk  and 
large  branches  with  force  sufficient  to  take  off  the  dry,  dead 
bark.     Only  this  is  to  be  removed.     Take  soft  soap  and 
reduce  it  by  urine  to  the  consistence  of  paint.    With  a  stiff 
shoe-brush  rub  the  whole  trunk  and  the  limbs  as  far  up  as 
is  practicable.     The  bark  will  grow  smooth  and  glossy ; 
insect  eggs  will  be  entirely  destroyed ;  all  moss  and  fungous 
vegetation  removed,  and   the  bark  stimulated  and  madu 
healthier.    THIS  is  BETTER  THAN  ANY  WHITEWASH,  and  just 
as  convenient. 

4.  Lime  is  better  used  as  follows :  remove  the  earth  from 
the  trunk,  and  put  about  half  a  peck  to  each  tree.     Jtivrry 
spring,  spread  and  dig  in  the  old  lime,  and  put  new  in  its 
place.     Unleached  ashes  are  good  to  be  dug  in  arouud  a 


ABOUT  FRUITS,   FLO  WEES   AND   FARMING.  291 

tree.  If  your  soil  is  calcareous,  full  of  lime,  these  applica- 
tions are  not  needful.  Thoroughly  rotted  manure,  or  better 
yet,  black  vegetable  mold  may  be  dug  in  liberally,  and 
will  supply  the  soil  with  nutriment,  and  the  roots  will  find 
their  way  in  with  great  facility. 

5.  When  a  tree  is  manured,  remember  that  the  ends  only 
of  the  roots  take  up  nourishment,  and  that  the  ends  of  the 
roots  are  not  found  close  by  the  trunk.  We  often  see 
heaps  of  manure  piled  about  the  trunk,  and  the  ends  of  the 
roots  are  three  yards  or  more  distant  from  it.  You  might 
as  well  put  your  fodder  down  at  your  cattle's  hind  legs, 
and  wonder  that  they  did  not  get  fat  on  it.  Treat  your 
trees  as  you  do  your  stock — put  their  food  where  their 
mouths  are.  YOUNG  ORCHARDS  are  better  without  stimu- 
lating manure.  Let  the  soil  be  mellowed,  and  then  give 
the  trees  their  own  time,  and  if  they  do  not  bear  quite  as 
soon,  they  will  live  longer  and  be  less  subject  to  disease. 


MIRACLES    IN    FRUITS. 

WHEN  a  traveller  was  relating,  in  Cowper's  presence, 
some  prodigious  marvels,  the  poet  smiled  somewhat  incredu- 
lously. "  Well,  sir,  don't  you  believe  me  ?  I  saw  it  with 
my  own  eyes."  "  Oh,  certainly,  I  believe  it  if  you  saw  it, 
but  I  would  not  if  I  had  seen  it  myself."  Even  so  we  feel 
about  the  thousand  and  one  physiological  fooleries  which 
run  the  monthly  rounds  of  the  papers. 

How  on  earth  do  men  suppose  a  fruit  to  receive  its  char- 
acteristic quality?  .Is  it  from  the  root,  trunk,  pith,  bark, 
branch,  or  leaf?  One  would  think  that  it  made  no  differ- 
ence which.  We  have  long  supposed  that  the  leaf  digested 
the  sap,  returned  it  to  flu-  jia>sa^-s  <•!'  «list.ril»iiti«»n  to  be 
employed  in  the  formation  of  fruit,  wood,  tissue,  etc.  Is 
this  the  function  of  the  leaf?  or  have  recent  investigations 


292  PL  ATX  AND  PLEASANT  TALK 

exploded  this  doctrine?  If  not,  it  will  be  apparent  that  all 
grafting  of  scions  together,  cannot  change  the  quality  of 
fruit,  unless  the  leaves  are  also  amalgamated.  Is  a  red, 
green,  yellow,  and  white  fruit,  sweet,  sour,  or  bitter,  bo  put 
upon  the  same  tree,  each  will  maintain  its  characteristics; 
because,  each  bud  or  scion  has  its  own  peculiar  leaves,  from 
whose  laboratory  the  fruit  is  sweetened  or  acidulated  and 
colored  with  all  its  hues.  To  be  sure,  fruits  are  affected  by 
the  stock  on  which  they  are  put;  but  their  characteristic 
elements  are  not  altered,  but  only  pushed  along  in  the  same 
line  and  made  more  perfect. 

There  is  no  doubt  that  trees  indulge,  occasionally,  in  rare 
antics.  A  sober  apple-tree  will  sometimes  let  down  its  dig- 
nity, in  what  gardeners  call  a ."  sport,"  e.  g.  a  sweet  apple 
may  grow  on  a  sour  tree,  and  vice  versd.  An  apple  may 
oil  one  side  be  sweet  and  on  the  other  sour.  But,  in  such 
cases,  the  same  general  law  is  seen  governing  yet.  We  all 
know  that  great  changes  of  temperament  occur  in  men.  A 
nervous  temperament  often  becomes  abdominal,  and  a  little, 
wiry,  fussy,  peevish,  minikin,  becomes  a  round,  plump,  rosy, 
corpulent  spot  of  good  nature.  Similar  changes  may  occur, 
through  disease,  or  the  peculiarity  of  the  season,  or  from 
unknown  causes,  in  the  structure  of  the  leaves  of  a  branch, 
and  then  the  fruit  will  follow  the  change  of  the  leaf. 

But  the  fruit  itself  digests  still  further  the  elaborated  sap 
sent  to  it  from  the  leaf.  If,  then,  from  any  hidden  can-* •-, 
the  fruit  should  in  part  change  its  structure,  the  juices 
elaborated  would  be  altered.  If  stamens  and  pistils  may 
change  to  petals,  if  petals  may  change  to  leaves,  if  leaves  may 
extend  to  branches,  we  know  of  no  reason  why  the  whole 
or  the  half  of  a  fruit  may  not,  also,  alter  its  structure ;  and 
with  its  peculiarity  of  function,  also,  of  course,  the  charac- 
ter of  the  fruit.  While  then  we  are  not  skeptical  of  "  mon- 
sters," "marvels,"  "sports,"  " singularities,"  we  think  \\<- 
can  trace  the  original  law  through  all  the  transmuta- 
tions. 


ABOUT  FRUITS,    FLOWERS   AND   FARMING.  293 


PROTECTING    THE    ROOTS    OF    FRUIT-TREES. 

CULTIVATOR^  are  frequently  urged  in  Horticultural  papers 
to  cover  the  roots  of  the  peach-trees  with  heaps  of  snow, 
etc.,  that  they  may  be  retarded  in  the  spring,  and  escape 
injury  from  late  frosts  upon  their  blossoms.  This  direction 
takes  it  for  granted  that  the  warmth  of  the  ground  starts 
the  root,  and  the  root  starts  the  sap,  and  the  sap  wakes  up 
the  dormant  branch.  By  covering  the  soil  and  keeping  it 
back,  the  whole  tree  is  supposed  to  be  secured.  But, 
unfortunately  for  this  process,  the  motion  of  the  sap  is  first 
in  the  BRANCHES,  and  last  in  the  roots.  Light  and  heat, 
exerted  upon  the  branches  for  any  considerable  length  of 
time,  produce  a  high  state  of  excitability ;  the  sap  begins  to 
move  toward  the  bud,  its  place  is  supplied  by  a  portion 
lower  down,  and  so  on  until  the  whole  column  of  sap 
through  the  trunk  is  in  motion,  and  last  of  all  in  the  ROOT. 
But  suppose  warm,  spring  days,  with  a  temperature  of  from 
sixty  degrees  to  sixty-five  degrees,  have  produced  a  vigor- 
ous motion  of  the  sap  in  the  branches  and  trunk,  while  the 
root,  (thanks  to  snow  and  ice  piled  over  it  to  keep  it 
frozen),  is  dormant,  what  will  result?  The  sap  already 
within  the  tree  will  be  exhausted,  the  root  will  supply 
none,  the  light  and  heat  still  push  on  the  development 
of  bud  and  leaf  and  the  tree  will  exhaust  itself  and  die- 
We  not  long  since  observed  a  remarkable  confirmation  ol 
these  reasonings.  A  gentleman  of  our  acquaintance,  in 
reading  these  unskilfull  directions  to  cover  the  peach-tree 
root,  opened  trenches  about  his  trees,  and  filled  them  with 
snow,  heaping  bountifully  also  all  about  the  trees.  The 
in  \t  spring,  long  after  his  trees  should  have  been  at  work, 
the  snow  hold  the  root  fast;  the  buds  swelled  and  burst, 
liii.uvrud,  shrivelled  and  died — and  the  trees  too.  This 
might  have  been  prognosticated.  There  are  partial 
methods  of  protecting  the  peach  from  too  early  develop- 
ment, but  they  all  have  respect  to  the  protection  of  the 


294  PLAIN  AND  PLEASANT  TALK 

limbs.  If  the  Itram-ht'S  can  l»r  m\  r;v<l  during  t:u-  rain1,. uu 
and  pivmatuivlv  liot  days  of  spring,  the  tree  will  not  suUVr. 
High,  ami  oM.l-aiml  aspects,  north  hill-sides,  in.rilu-ni  sides 
of  houses,  baras,  etc.,  will  answer  this  purpose.  When  it 
can  be  afforded,  long  boards  may  be  set  up  upon  the  east 
and  south  sides  of  choice  trees,  upon  a  frame  slightly  made 
and  easily  removed. 

The  reason  why  more  damage  has  not  been  done  by 
covering  peach-tree  roots,  than  has  occurred,  is,  that  the 
ground  has  been  superficially  frozen,  and  many  of  the  roots 
extending  deeper  and  laterally  beyond  the  congealed  por- 
tions, have  afforded  a  supply  of  sap  after  a  motion  had  been 
imparted  to  it  in  the  branches. 


PRUNING    GRAPE   VINES. 

ALL  know  that  after  the  sap  begins  to  flow  in  the  spring, 
a  vine,  if  cut,  will  bleed.  It  seems  that  at  this  early  period 
of  its  development  the  sap  vessels  have  no  power  of  con- 
traction. Many  suppose  that  the  same  state  of  things  con- 
tinues throughout  the  growing  season,  and  are  afraid  to 
cut  their  vines.  But  after  the  vine  has  begun  to  grow 
freely  (when  the  leaves,  for  example,  are  as  large  as  the 
palm  of  one's  hand),  a  wound  very  soon  contracts,  bleeds 
little  or  none,  and  heals  over  as  in  a  tree.  Any  pruning 
which  is  necessary  upon  the  old  wound  may,  therefore,  be 
fearlessly  performed. 

Some  inexpert  cultivators,  in  order  to  let  the  sun  iall 
upon  the  grapes,  pluck  off  the  leaves ;  hoping  thus  to  pro- 
cure sweeter  grapes.  This  is  the  very  way  to  have  acid 
fruit.  Where  is  the  sugar  prepared  for  the  cluster  but  in 
these  very  leaves  which  are  taken  off?  Without  1< 
the  sap  which  flows  into  the  cluster  has  undergone  but 


ABOUT  FBUIT8,   FLOWERS   AND   FA  KM  ING.  295 

imperfectly  those  chemical  changes  on  which  the  fruit 
depends.  Every  leaf  in  the  neighborhood  of  the  fruit  is 
precious. 


MILDEW    ON    GRAPES. 

MANY  permit  the  fruit  of  the  vines  to  perish  before  their 
eyes  from  the  ravages  of  mildew,  ignorant  that  an  effectual 
remedy  is  within  their  reach.  It  is  simply  to  dust  the 
branches  with  flowers  of  sulphur.  It  is  best  done  while  the 
dew  is  on. 

When  vines  are  trained  upon  the  sides  of  a  house  or 
fence,  it  is  well  to  whitewash  the  surfaces  on  which  they 
are  fastened  with  a  wash  in  which  flowers  of  sulphur  has 
been  largely  mixed. 

It  is  recommended  by  some  cultivators  to  employ  such  a 
whitewash  for  the  wood  of  the  vine,  covering  all  the  main 
stems  with  it ;  but  all  these  methods  result  in  the  one  thing 
— the  application  of  sulphur  as  a  remedy  for  mildew. 


HOW    TO    OBTAIN    GRAPE  VINES. 

GRAFTING  is  only  practised  on  the  vine  for  special  rea- 
sons, and  we  have  never  had  occasion  to  try  it.  We  shall 
speak  of  a  better  mode  of  obtaining  vines. 

The  best  method  of  "  getting  a  start "  of  grape  vines  is, 
by  the  employment  of  cuttings.  These  may  be  plant »•<! 
immediately  after  the  spring  pruning  of  established  vines. 
But  cuttings  of  native  grapes  are  as  well  planted  in  the 
full.  The  granulation,  from  which  the  roots  spring,  will 
form  during  the  winter,  and  the  cuttings,  starting  early  in 
the  spring,  will  make  good  growth  the  first  year.  Cuttings 


296  PLAIN   AND   PLEASANT  TALK 

are  the  best,  because  they  can  be  procured  easily,  abun- 
dantly, ami  rheaply  ;  they  will  bear  carriage  to  any  dis- 
tance, :n,  iiiirly  tenacious  of  lift-,  ami  tlu-y  niako 
thriftier  plants.  Cuttings  maybe  set,  cither  \vln'iv  tlu-y 
are  to  remain,  in  which  case  several  should  be  set,  to 
allow  for  failures,  and  only  the  strongest  finally  retained ; 
or,  they  may  be  set  in  nursery  rows,  eight  inches  apart. 
Cuttings  should  be  inserted  about  eight  inches '  deep, 
and  have  two  eyes  or  buds  above  the  surface.  The  two 
buds  are  merely  precautionary  ;  that  if  one  fails  the  other 
may  sprout ;  one  only,  and  that  the  strongest,  should  finally 
be  permitted  to  grow. 

An  old  and  skillful  cultivator  of  the  vine  says  that  cut- 
tings are  the  best  of  all  modes  of  securing  a  supply  of 
vines.  "For  my  part  I  am  for  scions  without  roots, 
after  many  experiments.  All  the  advantage  the  one  with 
roots  has  over  the  other,  is  that  they  are  more  sure  to 
live ;  but  they  will  not  in  general,  make  as  thrifty  plants." 
— J.  J.  Dufour. 

This  only  objection  to  cuttings — that  a  part  of  them  fail 
to  root — is  of  little  practical  importance,  as  they  are  easily 
obtained  in  any  quantity. 


AUTUMNAL    MANAGEMENT    OF    FRUIT-TREES. 

OBCHAKDISTS  and  cultivators  of  garden-fruit  will  have 
need  of  all  their  skill  to  prepare  tender  fruit-trees  for  win- 
ter. It  is  the  misfortune,  alike  of  the  English  summers,  ami 
of  ours  in  the  West,  that  trees  do  not  properly  ripen  their 
wood.  But  in  Great  Britain  it  is  from  the  want  of  enough, 
and  in  America,  from  too  much  summer.  Our  long  and  hot 
summers  give  two  or  three  separate  growths  to  fruit-trees, 
and  the  last  one  is  usually  in  progress  at  a  period  so  late 


ABOUT   FRUITS,    FLOWERS   AND   FARMING.  297 

that  severe  frosts  and  freezings  overtake  the  tree  while  yet 
in  an  excitable  state,  pushing  new  wood,  and  with  a  top 
quite  unripened  for  severe  frosty  handling. 

The  year  1845  furnished  a  fine  type  of  western  summers. 
The  spring  came  in  very  properly,  and  at  so  late  a  period 
that  the  usual  frosts,  after  the  expansion  of  leaves,  were 
:iv  <ided.  The  summer  opened  warmly  and  continued  with 
almost  unvarying  heat  throughout.  At  the  same  time  there 
were  frequent  and  copious  rains. 

By  this  statement  the  average  temperature  of  June  was 
71°,  and  the  rain  61  inches;  of  July,  average*  noon  heat 
80°,  rain  3£  inches ;  of  August,  average  noon  heat  80°,  rain 
5J  inches.  Nights  were  exceedingly  warm.  The  day 
repeatedly  opened  and  closed  at  80°.  Our  thermometer  on 
the  north  of  our  house,  in  a  shady  yard,  stood  for  eight  and 
ten  days  together  between  94°  and  100°,  twice  attaining 
the  latter  height. 

Under  such  stimulus  our  pear,  apple  and  plum-trees,  made 
their  first  growth  by  the  first  of  July.  They  soon  started 
into  a  second  growth,  which  wound  up  during  the  last  of 
August  and  the  first  of  September,  plum-trees  entirely 
shedding  their  leaves  and  standing  as  bare  as  in  Jan- 
uary. 

Let  orchards  be  examined  when  frosts  begin  to  occur, 
and  every  side-shoot^  sucker  or  water-sprout,  cut  cleanly 
out.  These  succulent,  raw  sprouts  are  the  breeding-spots 
of  disease.  Cold-blight  invariably  manifests  itself  in  them 
in  the  most  positive  form. 

Garden  trees,  choice  pears,  and  stone-fruits,  should,  in 
addition  to  this  operation,  if  still  in  growth  at  the  last  of 
September,  receive  a  fall  pruning.  From  the  first  to  the  mid- 
dle of  October,  according  to  the  season,  cut  off  two-thirds 
of  the  new  growth,  or  back  to  strong,  ripe  wood.  It  is  well 
known  that  the  newest  buds,  near  the  extremity  of  young 
wood,  are  the  most  sensitive  and  apt  to  break  and  grow, 
whereas  the  buds  near  the  base  of  a  branch  are  dormant 

13* 


298  PLAIN  AND  PLEASANT  TALK 

It  is  the  repose  of  the  older  buds  which  makes  fall  pruning, 
if  performed  with  judgment,  so  valuable.  Because  it  forces 
the  tree  to  expend  its  energies  in  ripening  its  wood  instead 
of  making  more,  and  it  also  tends  to  induce  fruittulness  by 
ch:in«rm£  leaf-buds  to  fruit-buds.  The  great  art  of  fall 
pruning  is  to  relieve  the  tree  of  its  crude  wood  wit/ion t 
'i\g  its  dormant  buds  to  break.  If  performed  too  early, 
or  if  but  the  tips  of  the  fine  wood  are  removed,  the  new 
buds  may  break  and  side-shoots  issue,  leaving  the  tree 
worse  off  than  before. 

Young  frees  just  coming  into  bearing  should  have  their 
trunks  protected.  That  there  is  a  change  in  the  economy 
of  a  tree  when  it  begins  to  bear  is  plain ;  and  experience 
seems  to  teach  that  trees  are  peculiarly  tender  at  the  time 
of  this  change,  since  they  are  far  more  apt  to  die  when 
coining  to  fruit,  than  either  before  or  afterward.  Cherry- 
trees  and  pear-trees  should  have  brush,  or  corn-stalks, 
or  straw,  or  matting,  as  is  most  convenient,  so  placed  from 
the  ground  to  the  branches,  as  to  exclude  the  sun  with- 
out excluding  air.  An  hour's  attention  may  save  much 
regret. 


PEARS  GRAFTED  UPON  THE  APPLE  STOCK. 

WE  do  not  think  the  pear  does  so  well  in  any  other  way 
as  on  its  own  root.  But  it  has  been  found  extremely  diffi- 
cult to  obtain  the  requisite  stock.  Pear-seeds  are  scarce. 
When  obtained,  the  seedlings  have  proved  intractable,  and 
left  the  nurseryman  oftentimes  in  the  lurch.  The  first  and 
best  substitute  for  pear-stock,  is  the  root  of  the  pear — great 
quantities  may  be  obtained  when  removing  pear-trees  in 
the  autumn  from  the  nursery,  and  also  without  any  injury 
to  the  trees,  roots  may  be  taken  from  old  bearing-trees. 


ABOUT   FRUITS,   FLOWEBS    AND   FARMING.  299 

These  are  to  be  grafted  in  the  manner  already  described  in 
mir  pages.  Next  to  this,  the  quince  stock  is  to  be  chosen. 
Tlu-  prar  is  dwarfed  upon  it.  In  other  words,  the  two  are 
Imt  imperfectly  suited  to  each  other,  and  the  scion  does  not 
develop  according  to  its  original  nature.  But  this  very 
dwarfing  adds  something  to  the  good  qualities  of  the  fruit, 
affords  trees  so  small  that,  at  eight  feet  apart,  they  make 
beautiful  linings  to  a  walk  or  border,  and,  morever,  brings 
the  pear  to  its  fruit  several  years  earlier  than  if  it  were  on 
its  own  bottom.  But  on  the  other  hand,  the  pear  on  quince 
is  comparatively  short-lived.  The  white-thorn  has  been 
tried  as  a  stock  and  not  without  success,  but  it  is  hardly  to 
be  used  except  in  extremities. 

Last,  and  worst  of  all,  comes  the  apple.  The  scion  grows  as 
vigorously  upon  the  apple  as  upon  a  stock  of  its  own  species, 
and  we  do  not  know  that  the  fruit  deteriorates.  But  the 
trees  seem  to  have  no  constitution.  After  a  few  bearings 
they  seem  struck  with  irremediable  weakness,  and  soon  run 
down  and  die.  Nurserymen  ought  not,  therefore,  to  graft 
the  pear  upon  the  apple.  To  do  so,  if  advised  of  the  fore- 
going "facts,  cannot  be  honest.  Our  attention  has  been 
called  to  the  subject  by  some  painful  experience  of  our 
own. 


NESHANOC  POTATO. — This  potato  (pronounced  Jtfgsha- 
noc),  was  raised  from  the  seed  about  the  year  1800,  by 
John  Gilkey,  Mercer  county,  Pennsylvania.  He  called  it 
Neshanoc,  from  a  creek  near  to  which  he  lived.  It  was 
called  by  some,  Mercer,  from  the  county  in  which  it  was 
raised.  It  is  extensively  cultivated,  and  deserves  to  be. 
Mr.  Gilkey  was  an  Irishman — of  course  a  judge  of  good 
potatoes. 


300  PLAIN    AND   PLEASANT  TALK 


SEEDLINGS    FROM     BUDDED    PEACHES. 

MB.  NICHOLAS  LONOWORTH  inquires:  "Will  the  pit  of 
the  budded  peach  produce  the  same  fruit  as  the  bud,  or  as 
the  stock,  or  a  mixture  of  the  two  ?"  And  he  also  says,  "  I 
have  never  fairly  tested  the  question,  but  my  experience 
led  me  to  believe  that  the  budded  pit  produced  the  same 
fruit  as  the  original  stock." 

So  far  as  this  question  can  be  determined  (independently 
of  experiment)  upon  the  known  laws  of  the  vegetable  king- 
dom, we  say  that  it  will  not  produce  fruit  like  that  of  the 
original  stock ;  nor  will  it,  on  the  other  hand,  with  any  cer- 
tainty, reproduce  the  budded  kind. 

If  the  pit  of  a  budded  variety  takes  after  the  stock,  we 
must  very  much  change  our  theory  of  the  office  of  le:i\  <•<, 
and  perhaps  of  the  bark.  At  present,  the  received  and 
orthodox  teaching  is,  that  the  sap  from  the  foot  is  crude 
and  undigested  until  it  has  received  in  the  leaf  a  chemical 
change.  Until  then,  the  sap  does  not  materially  influence 
the  vegetable  tissue,  nor  form  new  substance,  or  affect  the 
fruit.  But  after  its  elaboration  in  the  leaf,  a  returning  cur- 
rent of  prepared  sap  (similar  in  its  functions  to  arterial 
blood),  sets  downward,  distributing  to  every  part  of  the 
vegetable  economy  the  properties  required  by  each.  The 
sap  arising  from  the  root,  does  not  touch  the  channel  of 
fruit  until  it  has  been  chemically  changed;  and  the  differ- 
ence exhibited  in  the  fruit  of  one  tree  compared  with 
another,  arises,  primarily  from  the  nature  of  the  sap  which 
it  receives ;  the  sap  receives  its  qualities  by  a  digestion  in 
the  leaf.*  In  all  cases,  then,  we  suppose  the  leaf  to  deter- 
mine the  nature  of  the  fruit  (and  the  root  in  no  case,  and 
the  trunk  in  no  case),  since  the  stem  is,  so  far  as  sap  is  con- 
cerned, but  a  bundle  of  canals  for  its  passage — a  mere  high- 

*  The  fruit  itself  still  further  elaborates  the  sap,  else  a  peach  would  be 
ae  acrid  as  the  juice  of  the  peach  leaf. 


ABOUT   FRUITS,    FLOWEES   AND   FAKMINC.  301 

way  for  transmission — and  not  like  the  leaf,  a  laboratory  for 
its  preparation  !  * 

We  may  be  reminded  that  a  stock,  in  point  of  fact,  does 
influence  the  fruit.  It  is  indisputable  that  pears  are  changed 
on  quince  roots.  The  Wilkinson,  grafted  upon  the  quince, 
is  smaller,  more  prolific,  higher  flavored,  and  of  a  brighter 
red  check  than  if  grafted  on  the  pear.  The  Duchesse  d'An- 
gouleme  is  larger  and  better  on  the  quince  than  on  its  own 
roots.  But  what  is  the  influence  in  this  case?  When  a  free- 
gro\ver  is  put  upon  a  slow-grower,  the  point  _of  junction 
becomes  a  point  of  comparative  obstruction  to  the  return- 
sap.  It  is  only  a  wholesome  process  of  ringing,  or  decor- 
tication.  Lindley  says : 

"  When  pears  are  worked  upon  the  wild  species,  apples 
upon  crabs,  and  peaches  upon  peaches,  the  scion  is,  in  regard 
to  fertility,  exactly  in  the  same  state  as  if  it  had  not  been 
grafted  at  all :  while,  on  the  other  hand,  a  great  increase 
of  fertility,  is  the  result  of  grafting  pears  upon  quinces, 
peaches  upon  plums,  apples  upon  the  thorn,  and  the 
like.  In  these  cases,  the  food  absorbed  from  the  earth 
by  the  root  of  the  stock  is  communicated  slowly."  And 


*  Loudon  (Encyclopaedia  of  Gardening,  p.  448),  has  the  following 
remarks : 

44  The  bark  is  the  medium  in  which  the  proper  juices  of  the  plant,  in 
their  descent  from  the  leaves,  are  finally  elaborated  and  brought  to  the 
state  which  is  peculiar  to  the  species.  From  the  bark  these  juices  are 
communicated  to  the  medullary  rays,  to  be  by  them  deposited  in  the 
tissue  of  the  wood.  The  character  of  timber,  therefore,  depends  chiefly 
upon  the  influence  of  the  bark:  and  hence  it  is  that  the  wood  formed 
above  a  graft  never  partakes,  in  the  slightest  degree,  of  the  nature  of 
the  wood  below  it.  The  bark,  when  young  and  green,  like  the  leaves,  is 
supposed,  like  them,  to  elaborate  the  sap,  and  hence  may  be  considered 
as  the  universal  leaf  of  a  plant. 

These  views  corroborate  the  reasoning  above,  although  Loudon 
extends  the  functions  of  the  leaf  to  the  bark.  We  have  not  been  able, 
in  our  limited  range  of  books,  to  find  any  other  authority  for  this  state- 
ment, respecting  the  44  young  and  green  bark.'* 


302  PLAIN   AND    1M.KASANT   TALK 

Manning  adds:  "  No  other  influence  have  we  ever  noticed 
i  \i  rcised  by  the  scion  upon  the  stock." 

But  if,  after  all,  it  can  be  shown  by  actual  trial,  that  the 
pits  of  budded  peaches  DO  go  back  to  the  fruit  of  the 
*'»'-k,  why  we  must  receive  it,  in  spite  of  all  theory;  for, 
(and  some  would  do  well  to  heed  the  maxim),  facts  must 
rule  our  theories,  and  not  theories  our  fact.  But  we  may 
properly  put  any  facts  seeming  to  contravene  the  received 
theory  of  the  functions  of  plants  in  producing  fruit,  upon 
their  oath,  and  refuse  them,  unless  they  are  unquestionable 
and  relevant. 

Suppose  a  budded  peach  not  to  yield  a  fruit  at  all  like 
the  bud,  suppose  it  to  resemble  the  fruit  of  the  stock,  it 
does  not  follow  that  the  stock  influenced  the  fruit  to  such  a 
change.  Mr.  Longworth  knows  how  freely  some  peaches 
"  sport,"  and  that  all  peaches  may  be  made  to  do  it.  If  a 
Melacatune  be  budded  upon  a  Red  Rareripe,  and  the  Mela- 
cat  uue  pit  shows  a  fruit  resembling  the  Red  Rareripe,  it 
must  be  shown  that  the  blossom  had  not  been  crossed  by 
the  busy  oftices  of  flies,  bees,  etc.,  with  the  pollen  of  con- 
tiguous Red  Rareripe-trees. 

When  a  tree  is  even  solitary,  it  does  not  follow  that  a 
change  in  fruit  which  shall  make  it  resemble  the  stock  more 
than  the  graft,  results  from  the  force  of  the  stock  on  the 
grafted  fruit,  for  seedlings  of  grafted  fruit  are,  notoriously 
often,  base  and  degenerate ;  and  the  resemblance  might  be 
accidental,  for  seedlings  of  different  origin  are  often  strik- 
ingly alike. 

While  we  are  aware  of  no  facts  which  justify  Mr.  Long- 
worth's  suspicion,  that  the  pits  of  budded  varieties  produce 
kinds  like  the  stock  on  which  the  bud  was  put,  we  have 
facts  enough  showing  that  "budded  pits"  produce  their 
own  kind. 

It  may  be  added  that  thoroughly  ripe  peaches  are  lesa 
inclined  to  "  sport "  than  those  which  are  partially  green. 


ABOUT   FBUITS,    FLOWEKS   AND   FA11MLNG.  303 


CARE    OF    PEACH-TREES. 

TAKE  a  light  hoe  and  remove  the  earth  from  the  trunk 
of  your  trees.  If  there  are  worms  there  you  may  detect 
them  from  the  gum  which  has  exuded,  or  by  the  channels 
which  they  have  made  in  the  bark,  or  if  by  neither  of  these, 
by  the  discoloration  of  the  bark  in  spots.  Scrape  the  bark 
uvntly  with  the  back  of  a  knife,  and  you  can  easily  detect 
the  traces  of  worms  if  any  are  there.  Cut  freely  and  boldly 
both  ways  along  their  track  so  as  to  lay  bare  the  channel 
in  its  whole  length — remove  the  worm,  and  the  bark  will 
very  soon  heal.  Sometimes  four,  six,  and  even  more  will 
be  found  in  one  tree.  The  ashes  of  stone  coal,  blacksmiths' 
cinders,  wood  ashes,  lime,  the  refuse  stems  of  tobacco,  plant- 
ing tansy  around  the  trunk,  these,  and  dozens  of  other 
remedies  are  proposed.  For  our  own  part  we  rely  solely 
on  our  jack-knife.  In  March  or  April,  and  then  again  in 
August  or  September,  according  to  the  season,  we  search 
the  trunk  thoroughly.  We  can  attend  to  twenty  trees  in 
an  hour  or  two  ;  and  when  eating  freely  of  delicious  peaches 
we  never  had  a  qualm  of  regret  for  having  so  spent  the 
time. 

We  have  practised  sowing  salt  under  fruit-trees  with 
decided  advantage.  If  one  pound  of  saltpetre  be  added  to 
every  six  pounds  of  salt,  it  will  be  yet  better.  We  sow 
enough  to  make  the  ground  look  moderately  white,  and 
prefer  to  do  it  in  wet  weather. 


THE  most  salable  butter,  quality  being  equal,  is  that 
which  is  neatest  done  up.  There  is  a  great  deal  in  the  looks 
of  a  thing.  You'll  always  find  it  so. 


304  PLAIN   AND   PLEASANT  TAI.lv 


RENOVATING    PEACM-TREES. 

THE  peach-tree  inclines  to  thicken  at  the  top,  the  small 
inside  bram-hes  die,  and  are  removed  by  every  neat  cultiva- 
tor. As  the  branches  shoot  up,  this  tree  is  disposed  to 
abandon  its  lower  branches,  and,  like  the  vine,  to  bear  on 
tlu-  wood  the  farthest  from  the  root,  i.  e.  the  young  and 
now  wood.  In  a  few  years  the  tree  has  a  long-necked  trunk, 
sometimes  several  of  them;  while  the  weight  of  foliage  and 
fruit  is  situated  so  as  to  act  like  a  power  applied  to  a  lever ; 
and  as  the  fruit  grows  heavy,  or  a  storm  occurs,  the  tree  is 
broken  down.  We  have  practised  the  following  method 
with  success.  In  the  month  of  July  we  saw  off  the  top  of 
one  half  of  the  tree,  leaving  about  ten  or  twelve  feet  of 
stem,  measuring  from  the  ground.  New  shoots  will  now 
put  out  along  the  whole  trunk;  a  part  of  these  should  be 
rubbed  off,  according  to  the  judgment  of  the  cultivator, 
leaving  such  as  will  give  symmetry  to  the  tree,  and  form  a 
head  low  down.  The  second  year,  these  branches  will  bear 
fruit,  and  the  other  side  may  then  be  treated  in  the  same 
way. 

This  new  head  will  require  little  meddling  with  for  about 
four  years.  At  this  time,  or  whenever  the  tree  is  outrun- 
ning itself  the  same  process  is  to  .be  renewed.  But  this 
time  the  tree  will  be  composed  of  a  multitude  of  smaller 
branches,  instead  of  two  or  three  main  ones  as  at  first. 
Some  of  these  should  be  wholly  cut  out,  and  the  wound 
smeared  with  a  residuum  of  paint,  or  a  thick  white  paint, 
or  grafting  wax,  or  anything  that  will  exclude  the  air  while 
the  cut  is  granulating.  The  others  are  to  be  cut  within, 
say,  five  inches  of  the  old,  original  wood — leaving,  thus,  a 
stem  of  mere  stumps.  If  the  branches  are  taken  entirely 
off,  leaving  only  the  oldest  wood,  the  buds  which  would 
break  from  it  would  not  be  as  1  ealthy  or  vigorous  as  those 
which  will  spring  from  the  stumps  of  the  later  branches. 

Probably  twenty  or  thirty  whips  will  come  to  each  stump; 


ABOUT  FRUITS,    FLOWERS   AND   FARMING.  305 

these  should  from  day  to  day  be  reduced  in  number,  until, 
at  l.i^t,  all  aiv  removed  but  one,  and  that  one  should,  if  pos- 
sible, spring  from  the  nearest  point  where  the  stump  joins 
the  old  stem.  When  this  new  branch  is  obtained  and  fairly 
established,  remove  the  stump  with  a  fine  saw,  so  as  to 
leave  the  new  branch,  as  nearly  as  possible,  in  the  place  of 
the  old  one.  We  remove  the  whips  from  a  stump  gradu- 
ally in  order  to  give  the  tree  the  advantage  of  their  leaves 
as  long  as  it  can  be  done  without  interfering  with  the 
branch  or  branches  which  we  are  training  out. 

This  method  is  to  the  peach  what  pruning  is  to  the  grape. 
The  tree  is  kept  in  hand  instead  of  sprawling  abroad,  a 
prey  to  its  own  weight  and  to  storms ;  there  is  always  a 
plenty  of  young  wood  for  the  fruit,  which  can  be  easily 
reached  when  one  thins  out,  or  gathers  for  use. 

One  of  our  trees  taught  us  this  method  of  its  own  accord 
in  the  summer  of  1843.  The  weight  of  fruit  was  so  great 
that  we  applied  a  prop  to  the  middle  of  the  branch ;  in  a  few 
days  the  branch  broke  short  off  at  the  point  of  the  prop. 
It  so  happened  that  the  three  main  limbs  on  one  side  of  the 
tree  acted  in  this  manner.  That  same  fall  a  strong  growth 
of  new  wood  shot  out,  and  the  next  season  I  had  on  that 
side  as  fine  a  top  as  ever  I  had  on  any  peach-tree. 


EVERY  farmer  who  expects  his  wife  to  make  good  butter, 
after  furnishing  her  with  some  good,  well-fed  milk  cows, 
should  provide  her  with  good  milk-pans — large  and  shallow, 
so  as  to  present  a  large  surface  for  the  cream  to  rise  on,  and 
enough  of  them  to  hold  all  her  milk,  and  allow  it  to  remain 
undisturbed  long  enough  for  all  the  cream  to  rise.  These 
pans  should  be  nicely  washed  every  time  the  milk  is  emp- 
tied out  of  them,  and  always  be  clear  and  bright  when 
filled. 


306  PLAIN   AND  PLEASANT  TALK 


AN    APOLOGUE    OR    APPLE-LOGUE. 

Two  men  planted  out  each  one  hundred  apple-trees.  In 
six  or  seven  years  they  began  to  bear.  One  had  spared  no 
pains  to  bring  his  orchard  into  the  highest  condition.  He 
had  constantly  cultivated  the  soil  about  them,  scraped  off 
the  rough  bark,  washed  them  with  urinated  soap,  picked 
off  every  worm  and  nursed  them  as  if  they  had  been  child- 
ren. The  other,  pursuing  a  cheaper  plan,  simply  let  his 
trees  alone ;  but  the  moss,  and  canker-worms  took  his  place 
and  attended  to  them  every  year.  When  the  orchards 
b?gan  to  bear,  the  careful  man  had  the  best  fruit,  and  the 
careless  man  covered  his  folly  by  cursing  the  nursery-man 
for  selling  him  poor  trees.  In  a  year  or  two  the  careful 
man  had  two  bushels  to  the  other's  one  from  each  tree. 
Not  to  be  outdone,  the  latter  determined  to  have  as  many 
apples  as  the  former,  and  set  out  another  hundred  trees. 
By  and  by,  when  they  bore,  the  other  orchard  had  so  im- 
proved that  it  produced  twice  as  many  yet ;  another  hun- 
dred trees  were  therefore  planted.  In  process  of  time  the 
first  orchard  of  one  hundred  trees  still  sent  more  fruit  to 
market  than  the  three  hundred  trees  of  the  careless  man, 
who  now  gave  up  and  declared  that  he  never  did  have  luck, 
and  it  was  of  no  use  to  try  on  his  soil  to  raise  good  fruit. 

1.  When  a  man  is  too  shiftless  to  take  good  care  of  two 
horses,  he  buys  two  more,  and  gets  from  the  four  what  he 
might  get  from  two. 

2.  A  farmer  who  picks  up  a  cow  simply  because  it  is  not 
an  ox,  and  es,  nominally,  lactiferous,  and  then  lets  the  crea- 
ture work  for  a  living,  very  soon  buys  a  second,  and  a  third, 
and  a  fourth,  and  gets  from  them  all,  what  he  should  have 
had  from  one  good  one. 

3.  A  farmer  had  one  hundred  acres.     Instead  of  getting 
seventy-five  bushels  of  corn  to  the  acre,  he  gets  forty  and 
makes  it  up  by  cultivating  twice  as  many  acres  ;  instead  of 
thirty  bushes  of  wheat  he  gets  twelve,  and  puts  in  acres 


ABOUT  FRUITS,    FLOWERS   AND   FARMING.  307 

enough  to  make  up ;  instead  of  making  one  hundred  acres 
do  the  work  of  three  hundred,  he  buys  more  land,  and 
allows  three  hundred  to  do  only  the  work  of  one  hundred. 

4.  A  young  woman,  with  a  little  pains,  can  have  three 
times  as  many  clothes  as  she  needs,  and  then  not  look  so 
well  as  a  humble  neighbor  who  has  not  half  her  wardrobe ; 
wherefore,  we  close  with  some  proverbs  made  for  the  occa- 
sion: 

Active  little  is  better  than  lazy  much. 

Carefulness  is  richer  than  abundance. 

Large  farming  is  not  always  good  farming,  and  small 
farming  is  often  the  largest. 


SELECT    LIST    OF   APPLES. 

IT  is  impossible  to  frame  a  list  of  apples  which  will  suit 
wery  cultivator.  Men's  taste  in  fruits  is  widely  different. 
The  delicacy  and  mildness  of  flavor  which  some  admire,  is 
to  others  mere  insipidity.  The  sharp  acid,  and  coarse  grain 
and  strong  flavor  which  disgust  many  palates,  are  with 
others  the  very  marks  of  a  first-rate  apple.  The  object  of 
the  cultivator  in  planting  an  orchard,  whether  for  his  own 
use,  for  a  horns  market,  for  exportation,  for  cider-making, 
or  for  stock-feeding,  will  very  materially  vary  his  selection. 

The  soil  on  which  an  orchard  is  to  be  planted  should  also 
determine  the  use  of  many  varieties,  which  are  admirable 
only  when  well  suited  in  their  locality. 

Regard  is  to  be  had  to  climate,  since  some  of  the  finest 
fruits  in  one  latitude  entirely  betray  our  expectations  in 
another.  The  hardiness  and  health  of  different  varieties 
ou-lit  to  be  more  an  object  of  attention  than  hitherto.  As 
in  building,  so  in  planting  an  orchard,  a  mistake  lasts  for  a 
century,  and  a  bad  tree  in  a  good  orchard  is  like  bad  tim- 
ber in  a  good  mansion. 


308  PLAIN  AND  PLEASANT  TALK 

However  select,  then,  a  list  may  be,  every  cultivator 
must  exercise  his  own  judgment  in  adapting  it  to  his  own 
circumstances. 

SUMMER  APPLES. 

1.  CAROLINA  JUNE. — This  is  identical  with  the  Red  June 
of  the  principal  nurseries ;  but  many  inferior  varieties  scat- 
tered through  the  country,  called  Red  June,  are  to  be  dis- 
criminated from  it. 

The  tree  is  upright  with  slender  wood,  which,  wlu-n 
loaded  with  fruit,  droops  like  a  willow.  It  is  a  healthy 
tree,  ripens  its  wood  early  in  the  fall,  and  is  not  subject  to 
frost-blight.  It  comes  early  into  bearing,  is  productive  and 
bears  every  year.  The  fruit  is  of  .medium  size  though 
specimens  grow  large ;  the  flavor  is  sprightly,  subacid,  the 
flesh  tender.  It  has  flourished  well  on  sand-loams,  common 
clays,  and  on  strong  limestone  clay.  Ripens  from  the  first 
to  the  twentieth  of  July.  A  valuable  market  fruit.  Four 
trees,  in  one  county,  sent  eighty  dollars'  worth  to  mar- 
ket in  one  season.  Not  mentioned  by  eastern  writers,  nor 
found  in  eastern  catalogues,  but  described  at  the  West  by 
Hampton  and  Plummer,  and  found  in  Ohio  and  Indiana 
nurseries. 

2.  SWEET  JUNE. — Tree  upright,  wood  moderately  strong ; 
ripens  its  wood  early  in  fall;  not  subject  to  frost-blight; 
flourishes  on  all  soils,  even  if  quite  wet ;  bears  very  young, 
often  while  in  nursery  rows  ;  bears  every  year  and  abun- 
dantly.    The  fruit  is  of  medium  size ;  color  a  pale  yellow  ; 
form  globular  ;  flavor  sweet  and  pleasant.     Ripens  at  same 
time  as  the  Carolina  June. 

3.  KIRKBRIDGE  WHITE. — Not  found   in  any  catalogues 
but    those    of   Western   nurseries.     Tree    upright,   wood 
strong  and  stubbed ;  grows  slow  while  young,  but  vigor- 
ously when   fully  established;    ripens    its   wood   early  in 
autumn;    not   subject  to   frost-blight;    bears    moderately 


ABOUT  FRUITS,   FLOWERS   AND  FARMING.  309 

young,  and  is  very  productive.  Its  fruit  ripens  in  succes- 
sion for  six  weeks  from  first  of  July  to  middle  of 
August,  and  is  peculiarly  valuable  on  that  account ;  color 
m-ai-ly  white;  it  is  largest  at  base  and  tapers  regularly  to 
the  eye,  and  is  ribbed ;  flavor,  mild,  pleasant  acid ;  flesh 
melting,  and,  if  fully  ripe  breaks  to  pieces  in  falling  to  the 
ground. 

4.  PRINCE'S  HARVEST. — Manning  pronounces  this  "the 
earliest  apple  worthy  of  cultivation."     It  may  be  in  Massa- 
chusetts, but  it  is  preceded  by  many  at  the  West.     Man- 
ning's description  is  good. 

"  The  form  is  flat,  of  medium  size ;  the  skin,  when  per- 
fectly ripe,  is  of  a  beautifully  bright  straw  color ;  the  flesh 
tender  and  sprightly;  if  gathered  before  they  are  fully 
ripe,  it  has  too  much  acidity.  The  finest  fruits  are  those 
which  drop  ripe  from  the  tree ;  the  branches  make  very 
acute  angles,  by  which  it  is  readily  distinguished  from  most 
other  trees  in  the  orchard ;  it  bears  young.  Ripe  early  in 
July." 

Our  nurserymen  regard  it  as  a  shy  bearer. 

5.  SUMMER  QUEEN. — Extensively  cultivated  in  the  West 
under  the  name  of  Orange  Apple.    The  tree  is  spreading ; 
a  rapid  grower  ;  not  subject  to  frost-blight ;  wood  moder- 
ately strong;  comes  late  into  bearing;  productive  when  the 
tree  is  fully  grown,   according  to  the  books,  but  in  this 
region  with  some  exceptions  has  proved  to  be  a  poor  bearer. 
Fruit    large,   yellow,   striped  with  red;    flesh,    breaking; 
flavor  strong,  and  not  delicate. 

6.  SWEET  BOUGH. — Two  varieties  of  this  name  are  cul- 
tivated in  the  West — Coxe's  and  Mount's.     Coxe's  sweet 
bough,  is  that  of  the  books  and  catalogues.     Ripens  at  the 
same  time  ;  not  quite  so  high  in  flavor.     Coxe's  trees  are 
large  limbed  and  spreading  ;  bearing  on  the  point  of  the 
limbs,  and  are  shy  bearers ;  Mount's  variety  is  of  upright 
gro'vvth ;  bears   on   spurs  -along  the  branches ;  is  a  good 
bearer  and  ripens  from  middle  of  July  to  August. 


310  PLAIN   AND  PLEASANT  TALK 

"A  variety  under  the  name  of  Philadelphia  Jennetting  is 
known  in  Trumbull  County,  Ohio.  It  ripens  two  weeks 
later  than  the  common  kind,  otherwise  it  is  not  essentially 
different."— Dr.  J.  P.  Kirtland. 

7.  SUMMER  PEARMAIN. — There  seem  to  be  two  varieties 
of  tliis  name  cultivated  in  Ohio  and  Indiana. 

(1.)  That  of  Coxe,  which  is  the  one  generally  cultivated, 
and  deservedly  popular. 

"  The  fruit-buds  seem  to  be  unusually  hardy,  and  often 
iv-M  the  impression  of  late  spring  frosts,  while  others  are 
killed.  In  1834,  when  our  fruits  were  universally  cut  off 
by  that  destructive  agent,  a  free  of  the  summer  pearmain 
and  another  of  the  Vandeveer,  matured  a  dozen  or  two 
apples,  while  not  another  tree  in  an  orchard  containing  over 
five  hundred,  bore  a  solitary  fruit.  It  is  worthy  of  more 
extensive  cultivation." — Dr.  Kirtland. 

(2.)  A  variety  evidently  allied  to  Coxe's,  but  all  things  con- 
sidered a  more  desirable  variety.  The  fruit  resembles  Coxe's, 
but  is  larger;  the  flavor  is  the  same,  but  not  quite  as  high  ; 
Coxe's  is  oblong  ;  this  variety  is  Vandeveer  pippin  shape ; 
color  the  same,  and  the  period  of  ripening,  viz.,  July  an«l 
August.  The  trees  are  very  distinct;  Coxe's  is  upright, 
this  is  spreading  ;  Coxe's  of  a  slender  growth,  and  stinted 
habit,  and  is  hard  to  bring  forward  in  the  nursery ;  this  has 
a  vigorous  growth,  and  strong  wood,  and  strikingly  resem- 
bles the  Vandeveer  pippin-tree.  It  bears  early  and  abun- 
dantly in  all  soils. 

This  second  variety  was  brought,  by  a  man  named  Har- 
lan,  Fayette  County,  Indiana,  from  South  Carolina,  where 
it  is  extensively  cultivated. 

8.  DANIEL. — The  tree  is  upright,  nearly  pear-tree  shape  ; 
wood  strong  and  healthy ;  leaves,  above  all  varieties,  dark 
green  and  glossy;  bears  young  and  abundantly.  Fruit 
medium  size;  it  has  a  yellow  ground  covered  with  blotches 
of  dull  red;  flavor  rich,  sweetish,  and  high.  Ripens  in 


ABOUT  FRUITS,   FLOWERS  AND   FARMING.  311 

succession  from  first  to  middle  of  August.  A  desirable 
variety. 

9.  Hoss,  improperly  pronounced  Horse,  and  so  written 
in  Prince's  catalogue.  Originated  in  North  Carolina; 
largely  cultivated  in  both  Carolinas  and  southern  Virginia ; 
named  from  the  originator.  It  has  been  propagated  by 
suckers,  grafts,  and  even  by  seeds ;  in  this  latter  case,  the 
product  very  nearly  resembles  the  parent.  Three  varieties, 
however,  may  be  discriminated.  Tree  upright,  wood  strong 
and  healthy ;  bears  yearly  and  abundantly ;  flesh  melting  : 
flavor  rather  too  acid  until  thoroughly  ripe,  and  then  fine. 
Ripens  in  August  and  September.  Desirable  in  the  most 
select  orchards. 

The  time  of  ripening  \  have  set  down  for  the  latitude  of 
Indianapolis.  Upon  the  Ohio  River,  near  Cincinnati,  it  will 
be  ten  days  earlier. 

AUTUMN    APPLES. 

10.  MAIDEN'S  BLUSH. — Tree  moderately  spreading,  open 
top,  limbs  slender ;  grows  late  in  fall,  and  somewhat  liable 
to   winter-killing ;    grows   well   on   all   good   soils ;    bears 
young  and  very  abundantly  every  year.      The  fruit  large 
when  the  tree  is  not  allowed  to  ripen  too  large  a  crop ; 
white,  and  blush  toward  the  sun;   tender,  melting,  very 
juicy,   decidedly  acid.     The  fruit  is,  even  in  unfavorable 
seasons,  very  free  from  cracks,  knots,  and  is  always  fair ; 
one  of  the  best  for  drying  and  excellent  for  marketing ; 
should  be  plucked  before  it  is  dead  ripe ;    ripens  from 
August  to  October.    It  is  the  same  as  the  English  Hor- 
thornden.     It  does  not  do  well  grafted  on  the  root ;  being 
apt  to  burst  the  first  or  second  winter ;   buds  well,  and 
should  IT  thus  propagated  in  the  nursery.     It  is  a  native  of 
New  Jersey. 

11.  WINE  APPLE. — Tree  spreading  but  not  sprawling; 
medium  grower,  healthy ;  limbs  rather  slender  ;  does  well 


312  PLAIN  AND  PLEASANT  TALK 

on  all  soils;  bears  very  young,  largely,  and  every  year. 
Fruit  large  on  young,  and  medium-sized  on  old  trees  ;  deq> 
yellow  ground  covered  with  red,  and  russet  about  the 
stem;  tender,  melting,  very  juicy,  high-flavored,  sweet, 
with  a  spicy  dash  of  subacid.  One  of  the  richest  cooking 
apples;  one  of  the  most  desirable  for  drying,  resembling 
dried  pears.  Where  known,  it  is  worth,  dried,  a  dollar  and 
a  half  a  bushel,  when  other  apples  command  but  seventy- 
five  cents.  Ripens  first  of  September  and  has  passed  its 
prime  by  November.  Eastern  writers  call  it  a  winter 
apple,  and  Kenrick  gives  October  to  March  as  its  season ; 
but,  in  the  West,  it  seldom  sees  the  first  winter  month. 
Takes  by  graft  and  bud  pretty  well ;  does  well  grafted  upon 
the  root ;  favorable  for  nursery  purposes. 

12.  HOLLAND  PIPPIN. — Tree  large  and  spreading; 
strong  growth;  wood  short  and  stubbed,  healthy;  bears 
moderately  young ;  they  are  averse  to  heavy  clay  and  wet 
soils ;  on  light,  dry,  rich,  sandy  soils  bears  largely,  and  of 
high  color  and  flavor;  bears  every  other  year.  Fruit 
large,  very  bright  yellow,  tender,  juicy,  subacid.  The  pulp 
in  the  mouth  becomes  rather  viscid,  as  if  the  fruit  were 
mucilaginous,  which  is  agreeable  or  otherwise  according  to 
the  taste  of  the  eater.  It  is  sometimes,  but  rarely,  water- 
cored.  Ripens  in  October  and  November  ;  will  keep  later, 
but  apt  to  lose  in  flavor.  Good  for  drying,  but  usually 
sold  green,  being  a  very  marketable  fruit.  Not  a  good 
tree  for  nurserymen ;  not  willing  to  come  if  grafted  on 
the  root ;  does  well  by  crown-grafting ;  moderately  well 
by  budding,  the  eye  being  apt  to  put  out  simply  a  spur, 
which  can  seldom  be  forced  into  a  branch  if  permitted  to 
harden. 

13.  RAMBO. — This  apple  is  known  in  New  Jersey  by  the 
names  of  Romanite,  Seek-no-further,  and  Bread  and 
Cheese.  The  first  two  names  belong  to  entirely  different 
apples.  The  rambo  is  not  to  be  confounded  with  the  jRam- 
bours,  of  which  there  are  several  varieties.  Tree  upright, 


ABOUT   FRUITS,    FLOWERS   AND   FARMING.  313 

and  the  most  vigorous  growth  of  all  trees  cultivated  in  the 
West ;  the  easiest  of  all  to  bud  with,  a  bud  seldom  misses, 
and  makes  extraordinary  growth  the  first  season ;  it  may 
well  be  culled  the  nurseryman's  favorite  ;  bears  very  young, 
abundantly  every  year,  good  on  all  soils.  Fruit  medium 
size,  yellow  ground  with  red  stripes  and  the  whole  over- 
laid with  a  bloom,  like  a  plum  ;  tender,  juicy,  melting,  sub- 
acid,  rich ;  it  has  a  peculiarity  of  ripening  ;  it  begins  at  the 
skin  and  ripens  toward  the  core  ;  often  soft  and  seemingly 
ripe  on  the  outside  while  the  inside  is  yet  hard.  Ripens 
from  October  to  December.  One  of  the  best  of  all 
fruits. 

14.  GOLDEN  RUSSET. — This  admirable  apple  is  put  in  the 
list  of  fall  fruits,  because,  though  it  will  keep  through  the 
winter,  it  ripens  in  November,  and  sometimes  even  in 
October.  Tree,  strong  grower,  upright,  compact  top- 
healthy,  grows  late  in  foil  and  therefore  subject  to  winter- 
killing ;  will  grow  on  all  soils,  but  delights  in  rich  sandy 
loams,  on  which  it  bears  larger  and  finer  fruit.  Fruit  small, 
rather  oblong ;  color  yellow,  slight  red  next  to  the  sun ; 
although  called  russet,  there  is  but  a  trace  of  it  on  the  fruit 
of  healthy  trees ;  tender,  melting,  spicy,  very  juicy ;  in 
flavor  it  resembles  the  St.  Michael's  pear  (Doyenne)  more 
nearly  than  any  other  apple. 

This  fruit  is  the  most  popular  of  all  late,  fall,  or  early 
winter  apples,  and  deservedly,  and  should  be  put  at  the 
head  of  the  list.  A  gentleman  near  Belfre,  Ohio,  being 
applied  to  for  a  list  of  apples  to  furnish  an  orchard  of  a 
thousand  trees  for  marketing  purposes,  replied,  "  Take  nine 
hundred  and  ninety-nine  golden  russets,  and  the  rest  you 
can  choose  to  suit  yourself."  For  nursery  purposes  it  is 
rather  a  backward  apple;  the  buds  apt  to  fail,  which 
occasions  much  resetting.  It  will  not  do  well  grafted  on 
the  root,  being  ten* In-  and  always  largely  winter-killed 
when  so  wrought.  They  graft  kindly  on  well  established 

stocks. 

14 


814  ,  PLAIN   AND   PLEASANT  TALK 

I  fa  larger  list  of  full  apples  is  desired,  we  rer.mnnend  tlio 
Fall  Harvey.  <;raven*tein,  Lyscom,  Porter,  lied  Iiiir^trie, 
Yellow  do.  The  Ashmore  is  a  desirable  i'ruit — ditlieult  to 
raise  in  tin-  nursery,  ami  therefore  avoided,  but  the  tVuit  is 
line.  The  Ross  Nonpareil  is  a  very  admirable  full  iVuit  «•!' 
Jri>h  origin. 

The  list  of  autumn  apples  is  very  large  and  continually 
augmenting.  But  fall  apples  are,  ordinarily,  less  desirable 
than  any  others;  not  from  inferior  quality,  but  because  they 
ripen  at  the  season  of  the  year  when  peaches  and  pears  are 
in  their  glory. 


WINTER   APPLES. 

15.  GLORIA  MUNDI  or  Monstrous  Pippin.     Tree,  one  of 
the   most  upright,   top    close,   and   resembling   the   pear. 
Wood   medium    sized,    healthy,    vigorous    growth,   wood 
ripens  early,  not  subject  to  frost-blight ;  bears  on  moderately 
young    trees.      It  works  well   from    the    bud,   and    also 
extremely  well  grafted  on  roots,  and  grows  straight  and 
finely   for    nursery   purposes.      Fruit   very   large,    green, 
changes  when  dead-ripe  to  a  yellowish  white.     Flavor  mild, 
subacid;  flesh  melting  and  spicy.    Ripens  in  November,  at 
the  same  time  with  the  Golden  Russet,  but  will  not  keep  as 
long.     A  native. 

16.  BLACK  APPLE. — Tree    low,   spreading,   and    round 
topped  ;  wood  of  medium  vigor,  healthy,  ripens  early,  and 
not  subject  to  frost-blight.     Grafts  on  the  root  kindly ;  not 
so  favorable  for  budding  as  the  No.  15  ;  bears  remarkably 
young,  and  abundantly  to  a  fault.     Fruit  medium  sized; 
color  very  dark  red,  almost  black,  with  grey  rusty  spots 
about  the  stem;  flesh  tender,  breaking ;  moderately  juicy, 
flavor  rather  sweet,  though  not  a  real  sweet  apple.     No 
apple  would  stand  fairer  as  an  early  winter  fruit,  wen-  it  not 
for  a  peculiar,  dry,  raw  taste,  somewhat  resembling   tho 


ABOUT   FRUITS,    FLOWERS   AND   FARMING.  315 

of  uncooked  corn  meal.     Ripens  from  November  to 
.January.     It  is  a  native. 

17.  NEW  ION  SIMT/K.YBURG. — Tree,  not  large,  upright  but 
not  compact,  top  open;  wood  of  medium  size  and  vigor  of 
growth;  healthy,  ripens  early,  and  yet,  now  and  then,  it 
takes  the  frost-blight;  bears  moderately  young,  every  other 
year,  very  abundantly;  grafts  well  on  the  root,  buds  only 
moderately  well,  good  for  nursery  handling.     Fruit,  vary- 
ing much  in  size,  but  often  large,  flesh  melting,  juicy ;  flavor 
rich,  spicy,  subacid;  ripens  from  November  to  January. 

18.  RHODE  ISLAND  GREENING. — Tree  large,  very  spread- 
ing and  drooping,  grows  vigorously,  healthy,  ripens  early, 
not  subject  to  frost-blight;  bud  takes  well;  but,  whether 
grafted  on  the  root,  or  budded,  it  will  plague  the  nursery- 
man by  its  disposition  to  spread  and  twist  about  like  a 
quince   bush.       It   should  be    budded   on    strong    stocks 
at  the  height  at  which  the  top  is  to  be  formed;  but  it 
always  overgrows  the  stock.    Fruit  very  large,  color  green4 
with  cloudy  spots  dotted  with  pin-point  black  specks ;  flesh 
breaking,  tender  and  juicy:  flavor  mild,  rich,  subacid;  a 
very  popular  fruit.     Ripens  from  November  to  January. 

19.  HUBBARDSTON  NONESUCH. — Admirable  in  nursery; 
works  well  on  root  or  by  bud.     We  give  Downing's  des- 
cription, as  it  has  not  fruited  in  this  region.- 

"  A  fine,  large,  early  winter  fruit,  which  originated  in  the 
town  of  llubbardston,  Mass.,  and  is  of  first  rate  quality. 
The  tree  is  a  vigorous  grower,  forming  a  handsome  branch- 
ing head,  and  bears  very  large  crops.  It  is  worthy  of 
extensive  <»ivhard  culture. 

"  Fruit  large,  roundish-oblong,  much  narrower  near  the 
eye.  Skin  smooth,  striped  with  splashes  an. I  irregular 
broken  stupes  of  pale  and  bright  red,  which  nearly  cover  a 
yellowish  ground.  The  calyx  open,  ami  the  stalk  short,  in 
a  russeted  hollow.  Flesh  yrllow,  juicy,  and  tender,  with 
an  agreeable  mingling  of  sweetness  and  acidity  in  its  flavor. 
October  to  January." 


310  PLAIN   AND   PLEASANT  TALK 

20.  ]M  i  \i-iii:. — Wo  jjivo  Manning's  dosoription  : 

" Tliis  tim-  apple  original  od  in  IJowloy,  Mass.  The  si/.u 
is  large,  the  form  oblong  like  the  Bcllflowor,  tapoi -\i\\r  to  the 
eye,  with  broad  ridges  the  whole  length  of  the  fruit;  the 
skin  a  light  greenish  yellow,  striped  with  bright  red,  but 
the  red  seldom  extends  to  the  eye ;  flesh  yellow,  light,  high 
flavored  and  excellent.  This  is  one  of  the  very  lim  st  apples 
which  New  England  has  produced.  It  ripens  from  Novcm- 
ber  to  February,  and  deserves  a  place  in  every  collection 
of  fruits,  however  small.  This  apple  received  its  pivsmt 
name  from  the  circumstance  of  the  late  Rev.  Dr.  Spring,  of 
Newburyport,  having  purchased  the  first  fruit  brought  to 
market." 

21.  VANDEBVEER  PIPPIN. — Tree  large,  one  of  the  most 
vigorous,  spreading,  but  not   drooping;    ripens  its  wood 
late,  occasionally  touched  with  frost-blight  and  liable  to 
burst  at  the   surface   of  the   ground   during   the  winter. 
Bears  young,  every  year,  and  very  abundantly.    Buds  well, 
grafts  well  on  the  root,  grows  off  strongly,  forms  a  top 
readily,  and  will  please  nurserymen.     Fruit  large,  more  uni- 
formly of  one  size  all  over  the  tree  than  any  in  the  orchard ; 
shape  of  fruit  flat ;  color,  red  stripes  on  a  yellow,  russety 
ground.     Flesh  coarse,  gritty;  flavor  strong,  penetrating, 
without  aroma;  December  to  March.     This  fruit  is  remark- 
able for  having  almost  every  good  quality  of  tree  and  fruit 
and  being  notwithstanding  a  third-rate  apple.     The  tree  is 
hardy,  its  bloom,  from  peculiar  hardiness,  escapes  injurv 
from  frost,  and  even  a  second   set  of  blossoms   put   out, 
though  feeble  ones,  if  the  first  are  destroyed.     The  fruit  is 
comely,  cooks  admirably,  keeps  well ;  but  a  certain  sharp- 
ness and  coarseness  will  always  make  it  but  a  second  or 
third-rate   fruit.     No   tree   is   sought  by  farmers  in   this 
region,  with  more  avidity.     Its  origin  is  doubtful.     Bnnf- 
son,  of  Wayne  County,  brought  it  to  Indiana,  and  all  our 
nurseries  trace  their  stock  to  his.     It  was  carried  for  the 
first  time  to  New  Jersey,  by  Quakers  visiting  that  region, 


ABOUT   FRUITS,    FLOWERS    AND   FARMING.  317 

from  his  orchard.  It  should  have  been  mentioned,  that  it 
holds  its  nge  remarkably  well,  very  old  trees  producing  as 
largely,  an«l  us  i'uir,  sound  fruit  as  when  young. 

22.  YELLOW    BELLE    FLEUR,    OR    BELLFLOWER. — Tree 
spreads  and  droops  more  than  any  tree  of  the  orchard,  the 
Newark    pippin,  perhaps,   exceptcd;    wood   very  slender 
and  whip-like,  healthy,  ripens  early,  not  subject  to  frost- 
blight,  grafts  well  on  the  root,  but  is  rather  tender  during 
the  first  winter  when  so  worked ;  buds  well,  but  from  its 
drooping,  sprawling  habits,  is  hard  to  form  into  a  top.   Bears 
moderately  young  (not   so  young  as  the    white) ;   abun- 
dantly.    Flesh  melting  and  tender  and  juicy ;   flavor  fine 
and   delicate  rather  than  high;  color  deep  yellow  when 
ripe ;  ripens  from  December  to  March.     One  of  the  most 
deservedly  popular  of  winter  apples  and  always  salable  in 
all  markets. 

23.  WHITE  BELLE  FLEUB. — This  apple  is  cultivated  in 
Ohio   under    the   names   of  Hollow-cored  Pippin,    Ohio 
favorite,  and,  by  the  Cincinnati  pomologists,  of  Detroit. 
It  is  also  the  Cumberland  Spice  and  Monstrous  BeUflower 
of  Coxe.     It  was  taken  to  the  West  by  Brunson  of  Wayne 
County,  Indiana,  and  thence  disseminated  in  every  direc- 
tion ;    and   it  may  be   called   the  Bellflower  of  Indiana, 
since  it  and  not  the  yellow,  predominates  in  all  orchards, 
The  yellow,  however,  within  five  years,  has  been  largely 
distributed.   Tree,  medium  sized,  spreading ;  wood  stronger 
than  the  yellow  belle  flour,  healthy,  ripens  its  wood  early, 
but  liable  to  after-growth  in  warm  falls,  and  therefore  sub- 
ject to  frost-blight.     The  tree,  from  its  habit  of  growth, 
more  liable  to  split  and  break  under  a  full  crop  than  any 
tree  of  the  orchard.     One  of  the  youngest  bearers  in  the 
nursery ;  fruitful  to  a  fault.     Grafted  on  the  root  it  kills  off 
in  winter  ;  buds  well  and  forms  a  top  without  difficulty. 
Fruit   above   medium   and   sometimes  very  large;    color, 
greenish  white,  and,  in  some  seasons  with  a  blush  on  the 
sunny  side;  flesh  breaking  at  first,  but  when  fully  ripo, 


318  1M.AIN   AND   PLEASANT  TALK 

inciting  and  juicy  ;  flavor  mild  and  delicate.  It  is  not  apt 
to  cloy,  and  nnnv  ean  lie  cairn  than  of  almost  any  variety. 
Ripe  from  December  to  March. 

24.  BALDWIN. — Works  well  in  nursery  by  root  or  bud, 
and  is  fine  for  nurserymen.    Top  forms  easily.     Not  up- 
right, as  Downing  says,  but  a  round,  spreading  top.    We 
give  Downing's  description : 

"The  Baldwin  stands  at  the  head  of  New  England 
apples,  and  is  unquestionably  a  first-rate  fruit  in  all  respects. 
It  is  a  native  of  Massachusetts,  and  is  more  largely  culti- 
vated for  the  Boston  market  than  any  other  sort.  It 
bears  most  abundantly,  and  we  have  had  the  satisfaction 
of  raising  larger,  more  beautiful,  and  highly  favored  speci- 
mens here,  than  we  ever  saw  in  its  native  region.  The 
Baldwin,  in  flavor  and  general  characteristics,  evidently 
belongs  to  the  same  family  as  Esopus  Spitzenburg,  and 
deserves  its  extensive  popularity. 

"  Fruit  large,  roundish,  and  narrowing  a  little  to  the  eye. 
Skin  yellow  in  the  shade,  but  nearly  covered  and  striped 
with  crimson,  red,  and  orange,  in  the  sun ;  dotted  with  a 
few  large  russet  dots,  and  with  radiating  streaks  of  russet 
about  the  stalk.  Calyx  closed,  set  in  a  rather  narrow 
plaited  basin.  Stalk  half  to  three  fourths  of  an  inch  long, 
rather  slender  for  so  large  a  fruit,  planted  in  an  even, 
moderately  deep  cavity.  Flesh  yellowish  white,  crisp,  with 
that  agreeable  mingling  of  the  saccharine  and  acid  which 
constitutes  a  rich,  high  flavor.  The  tree  is  a  vigorous, 
upright  grower,  and  bears  most  abundantly.  Ripe  from 
November  to  March,  but  attains  its  greatest  perfection  in 
January." 

25.  MICHAEL   HENRY    PIPPIN. — Tree    upright,   with     a 
round-shaped  top ;  wood  strong,  rather  slow  grower,  ripens 
its  mam  growth  of  wood  early,  but  liable  to  fresh  growth 
in  warm,  wet  falls ;  bears  very  young,  every  other  year 
abundantly  and  not  a  single  apple  in  the  next  year.     Should 
not  be  grafted  on  the  root ;  and  it  is  rather  troublesome 


ABOUT   FRUITS,    FLOWERS    AND   FARMING.  319 

when  "budded,  from  a  disposition  to  make  dwarf  spur- 
like  branches,  rather  than  upright  limbs.  Fruit  medium- 
sized,  long,  large  about  the  base,  sharpening  toward  the  eye  ; 
color  green,  clouded  and  black  speckled;  flesh  tender, 
melting ;  flavor  rich,  inclined  to  sweet,  and  very  fine. 
Ripens  from  December  to  March. 

20.  RED  SWEET  PIPPIN. — Tree  handsome,  round-topped, 
but  rather  spreading ;  wood  strong,  and  vigorous  growth, 
ripens  early ;  tree  very  healthy,  apt  to  grow  with  very 
smooth  bark  affording  little  shelter  for  insects;  bears 
young,  every  year  and  abundantly.  Works  well  in  the 
nursery  either  by  grafting  on  the  root,  or  by  budding. 
Fruit  medium  size  inclining  to  large ;  color  red  with  grey 
stripes  on  the  shaded  side  ;  flesh  breaking  and  firm ;  flavor 
sweet  and  rich.  It  bakes  well,  is  good  for  pies,  eats  well, 
ami  its  kitchen  and  table  qualities  combined  make  it  a 
desirable  fruit.  Ripe  from  December  to  April. 

27.  PRYOR'S  RED. — Tree  upright;  wood  slow  growing, 
slender,  and  the  branches  full  of  small  wood,  healthy,  not 
subject  to  frost:blight ;  comes  very  late  into  bearing, 
requiring  ten  or  twelve  years  for  full  bearing ;  bears  only 
moderate  crops;  every  year.  Difficult  to  work  in  the 
nursery,  but  does  better  by  grafting  on  the  root  than  by 
budding.  Fruit  above  medium  size ;  color,  red  dotted 
with  white  specks;  the  whole  surface  covered  with  slight 
bloom ;  flesh  melting ;  flavor  very  rich  and  high,  and  by 
some  thought  to  be  even  richer  than  the  golden  russet.  If 
this  apple  only  grew  on  the  Vanderveer  pippin  tree,  it  would 
requiiv  nothing  more  to  render  it  perfect.  Ripens  from 
December  to  March.  Its  keeping  properties  are  more 
in  danger  from  the  teeth  than  from  ordinary  decay.  A  very 
salable  and  popular  apple,  which,  when  once  had,  none 
would  consent  to  lose.  It  is  unknown  in  New  England  and 
N  ew  York  except  by  description  ;  and  is  not  even  described 
by  Downing,  and  but  little  more  than  mentioned  by  Ken- 
rick. 


320  PLAIN   AND  PLEASANT  TALK 

28.  GREEN  NEWTOWN  PIPPIN. — Tree  spreading,  wood 
nlmdi-r  and  sl.:\v  growing;  ripens  early,  making  it  oiu-n 
troublesome  for  nurserymen  to  procure  buds  tit  tor  lau« 
u  ork  ;  not  subject  to  frost-blight.  The  tree  requires  vigor- 
ous cultivation  to  redeem  it  from  a  feeble  growth ;  the  bark 
is  inclined  to  crack  on  the  branches  and  scale  up,  and  when 
once  roughened  it  is  difficult  ever  again  to  make  tin  in 
smooth.  Late  coming  into  bearing,  bears  abundantly  every 
other  year.  They  should  never  be  grafted  on  the  root ; 
they  should  be  budded  on  strong  healthy  stocks  and  high 
up  in  order  to  do  well.  Fruit  large,  green,  changing  to 
yellow  when  dead-ripe ;  flesh  firm,  breaking ;  flavor  very 
rich.  Ripe  from  February  to  May.  This  apple  is  culti- 
vated in  extraordinary  abundance  at  the  East  both  for 
home  and  foreign  markets.  They  sell  in  London,  at  six- 
pence a  piece.  The  farm  of  R.  L.  Pell  contains  2,000  bear- 
ing trees  of  this  variety ;  a  note  descriptive  of  which  we 
give  from  Downing : 

"  One  of  the  finest  orchards  in  America  is  that  of  Pell- 
ham  farm,  at  Esopus,  on  the  Hudson.  It  is  no  less  remark- 
able for  the  beauty  and  high  flavor  of  its  fruit,  than  the 
constant  productiveness  of  trees.  The  proprietor,  R.  L.  Pell, 
Esq.,  has  kindly  furnished  us  with  some  notes  of  his  experi- 
ments on  fruit-trees,  and  we  subjoin  the  following  highly 
interesting  one  on  the  apple. 

" 4  For  several  years  past,  I  have  been  experiment- 
ing on  the  apple,  having  an  orchard  of  2,000  bearing 
Newtown  Pippin-trees.  I  found  it  very  unprofitable  to 
wait  for  what  is  termed  the  'bearing  year,'  and  it 
has  been  my  aim  to  assist  nature,  so  as  to  enable  the 
trees  to  bear  every  year.  I  have  noticed  that  from  the 
excessive  productiveness  of  this  tree,  it  requires  the  inter- 
mediate year  to  recover  itself— to  extract  from  the  earth 
and  the  atmosphere  the  materials  to  enable  it  to  produce 
again.  This  it  is  not  able  to  do,  unassisted  by  art,  while  it 
is  loaded  with  fruit,  and  the  intervening  year  is  lost ;  i£ 


ABOUT   FKUITS,    FLOWERS    AND   FARMIXG.  321 

however,  the  tree  is  <!i|»p!ic-d  with  proper  food  it  will  bear 
every  year ;  .at  least  such  has  been  the  result  of  my  experi- 
ments. Three  years  ago,  in  April,  I  scraped  all  the  rough 
hark  from  the  stems  of  several  thousand  trees  in  my 
orchards,  and  washed  all  the  trunks  and  limbs  within  reach 
with  soft  soap;  trimmed  out  all  the  branches  that  crossed 
each  other  early  in  June,  and  painted  the  wounded  part 
with  white  lead,  to  exclude  moisture  and  prevent  decay.  I 
then,  in  the  latter  part  of  the  same  month,  slit  the  bark  by 
running  a  sharp-pointed  knife  from  the  ground  to  the  first 
set  of  limbs,  which  prevents  the  tree  from  becoming  bark- 
bound,  and  gives  the  young  wood  an  opportunity  of  ex- 
panding. In  July  I  placed  one  peck  of  oyster-shell  lime 
under  each  tree,  and  left  it  piled  about  the  trunk  until 
November,  during  which  time  the  drought  was  excessive. 
In  November  the  lime  was  dug  in  thoroughly.  The  follow- 
ing year  I  collected  from  these  trees  1,700  barrels  of  fruit, 
part  of  which  was  sold  in  New  York  for  four,  and  others  in 
London  for  nine  dollars  per  barrel.  The  cider  made  from 
the  refuse,  delivered  at  the  mill  two  days  after  its  manufac- 
ture, I  sold  for  three  dollars  and  three-quarters  per  barrel  ot 
thirty-two  gallons,  exclusive  of  the  barrel.  In  October  I 
manured  these  trees  with  stable  manure  in  which  the 
ammonia  had  been  fixed,  and  covered  this  immediately  with 
earth.  The  succeeding  autumn  they  were  literally  bending 
to  the  ground  with  the  finest  fruit  I  ever  saw,  while  the 
other  trees  in  my  orchard  not  so  treated  were  quite  barren, 
the  last  season  having  been  their  bearing  year.  I  am  now 
placing  round  each  tree  one  peck  of  charcoal  dust,  and  pro- 
pose in  the  spring  to  cover  it  from  the  compost  heap. 

" 4  My  soil  is  a  strong,  deep,  sandy  loam  on  a  gravelly 
subsoil.  I  cultivate  my  orchard  grounds  as  if  there  were 
no  trees  on  them,  and  raise  grain  of  every  kind  except  rye, 
which  grain  is  so  very  injurious  that  I  believe  three  suc- 
cessive crops  of  it  would  destroy  any  orchard  younger  than 
twenty  years.  I  raised  last  year  in  an  orchard  containing 

14* 


PLAIN   AND   PLEASANT  TALK 

twenty  acres,  trees  eighteen  years  old,  a  crop  of  Indian 
corn  which  averaged  140  bushels  of  ears  to  tin-  acre.'" 

29.  RAWLE'S  JANET,  OB  JENNETTING.  —  Tree  round 
topped,  a  little  spreading  and  handsome.  Wood  strong, 
slow  growth,  short  jointed,  and  the  healthiest,  perhaps,  of 
all  orchard  trees.  Does  not  bear  young ;  but  when  estab- 
lished, a  great  bearer  every  year,  unless  overloaded,  when 
it  rests  a  year.  It  is  the  finest  of  all  apples  to  graft  on  tin- 
root,  and  should  be  always  so  propagated  in  the  nursery ; 
if  budded,  it  being  a  late  starter  in  spring,  the  stock  will 
put  out  its  branches  before  the  bud,  and  make  great  trou- 
ble. Fruit  medium  sized ;  color  green  striped  with  red ; 
roundish  but  inclined  to  sharpen  toward  the  eye;  flesh 
white,  melting,  very  juicy;  flavor  mild  and  delicate. 
Ripens  from  February  to  May.  This  is,  and  deserves  to  be, 
an  exceedingly  popular  apple  in  all  the  West.  The  tree 
is  remarkably  healthy ;  it  blooms  ten  days  later  than  other 
varieties,  and  therefore  seldom  loses  a  crop  by  spring  frost ; 
but  the  bloom  is  very  sensitive  to  frost  if  overtaken  ;  the 
fruit  is  very  relishful ;  keeps  as  well  as  the  Newtown  Pippin, 
and  by  many,  and  by  this  writer  among  the  number,  is  much 
preferred  to  that  noted  variety.  It  has  the  peculiar  excel- 
lence of  enduring  frost  without  material  injury ;  a  property 
which  has  enabled  cultivators  to  save  thousands  of  bushels 
of  fruit  which  by  sudden  and  early  cold  had  been  severely 
frosted. 


THE  reason  that  the  Cockle-bur,  that  great  pest  on  farms, 
cannot  be  destroyed  by  being  cut  off  once  a  year,  is  that 
nature  has  provided  for  its  propagation  by  bestowing  on  it 
seed  vessels  which  ripen  at  two  different  times  of  tin-  y«-ar. 
This  will  be  found  to  be  the  case  on  careful  examination. — 
Western  Farmer  and  Gardener. 


AIJOUT   FRUITS,    FLOWEBS   AXD   FARMING.  323 

ORIGIN    OF   SOME   VARIETIES   OF   FRUIT. 

THE  history  of  our  line  fruits  has  many  curious  points  of 
interest  to  the  zealous  poraologist.  It  is  made  up  of 
skill,  felicitous  blunders,  discoveries,  and  profitable  acci- 
dents. 

The  Flemish  pears,  with  which  so  large  a  portion  of  the 
calendar  of  new  pears  is  filled,  were  the  products  of  scienti- 
fic cilbrts.  In  like  manner,  many  of  the  finest  fruits  ori- 
ginated by  Knight,  were  by  a  scientific,  although  a  different, 
process.  On  the  other  hand  it  would  be  difficult  to  find 
fruits  superior  to  those  in  the  making  of  which  only  Nature 
had  a  hand. 

The  Duchesse  cPAngouleme,  a  pear  without  a  rival,  in  its 
season,  was  found  in  1815,  growing  wild  in  a  hedge,  near 
Angers,  in  the  department  of  Maine  et  Loire,  France. 

The  Washington,  one  of  our  finest  native  pears,  was 
likewise  discovered  in  a  thorn  hedge,  at  Naainan's  creek, 
Delaware,  by  Gen.  Robertson.  He  was  removing  a  fence 
on  his  farm  about  forty-five  years  ago ;  he  found  the  young 
tree  nearly  grown. 

The  Lewis  is  a  native  of  Massachusetts.  Mr.  Downer,  of 
Dorchester,  a  critical  judge  of  fruits,  was  acquainted  with 
the  original  tree  ten  years  before  he  thought  it  worth  a 
place  in  his  garden.  He  visited  it  three  times,  and  wis 
each  time  disinclined  to  cultivate  it ;  it  was  not  until  he  haJ 
seen  a  tree  taken  from  it,  growing  in  cultivated  ground, 
that  he  adopted  it.  It  now  ranks  among  the  finest  native 
pears. 

Dearborn's  Seedling  was  discovered  by  General  Dearborn 
in  a  cluster  of  syringas  and  rose  bushes,  forming  a  part  of  a 
border  to  an  avenue.  Pears  seem  to  have  great  fondness 
ti>r  hedges,  borders,  etc.  The  discoverer  attempted  to 
remove  the  tree,  then,  apparently,  about  five  years  old,  to 
"his  nursery  for  a  stock;  but  digging  two  feet  deep,  and 
finding  no  root  but  the  tap  root,  he  feared  that  deplanting 


324  n.AIV     AND    1M. HAS  A  XT    TAI.K 

might  kill  it.  It  |fM  left  to  grow,  and  lias  Droved  to  be 
one  of  the  first.  ;-lu<s  pears. » 

Do,:  -..ck  in  tiu-  nursery  row,  and 

•al  times  budded  with  other  kinds;  the  buds  :ihvays 
liiiliiiLT,  tlu?  tree  was  allowed  to  Iruit,  and  proved  one  of  the 
best,  if  not  tlw  best,  of  late  cherries. 

Knl'jhCs  lylt'k  llnjlc  was  raised  from  the  seed  of  the 
Bigarrcau  fertilized  by  the  .May  Duke.  When  it  bore,  the 
fruit  was  so  inferior  that  the  London  Horticultural  Society 
peremptorily  rejected  it.  Mr.  Knight  determined  to  head 
the  tree  down  and  graft  into  it  other  sorts.  But  he  had 
given  the  tree  to  a  daughter,  with  whom  it  was  a  favorite, 
and  she  refused  to  have  it  sacrificed.  Each  year,  subse- 
quently, showed  an  improvement  in  the  fruit ;  and  now  it 
stands  in  the  first  class  of  cherries.  This  is  one  among 
many  instances,  which  show  that  young  seedlings  do  not 
exhibit  the  true  qualities  of  the  fruit  for  several  years  after 
they  come  to  bearing. 

The  Red-cheek  Melocoton  peach  was  accidentally  obtained 
by  the  late  Wm.  Prince,  Flushing,  Long  Island,  lie  had 
budded  the  Kennedy's  Caroline  upon  a  stock,  and  below 
the  point  of  inoculation  a  branch  of  the  original  stock  had 
shot  up  into  bearing.  Sending  a  servant  to  gather  the 
budded  fruit,  he  was  surprised  by  his  bringing,  and,  as  lie 
declared,  from  this  tree,  a  free-stone  peach.  On  examining, 
he  found  the  cause  as  stated  above,  and  was  so  much 
pleased  with  the  new  kind  that  he  cultivated  it. 


THE  best  stock  a  man  can  invest  in,  is  the  stock  of  a 
farm;  the  best  shares  are  plow-shares;  and  the  best  bank?* 
arc  the  fertile  banks  of  the  rural  stream:  the  more  tin-so 
are  broken  the  better  dividends  they  pay. 


ABOUT  FRUITS,   FLOWERS   AND   FARMING.  325 

TH  fc     QUINCE. 

have  nothing  to  say  that  lias  not  been  well  said  by 
Downing,  in  his  most  interesting  chapter  on  the  Quince. 
His  Fruit  and  Fruit  Trees  of  America,  by  the  way,  is 
beyond  all  question  the  best  pomological  manual,  all  things 
considered,  which  has  appeared  at  home  or  abroad. 

To  return  to  the  quince ;  we  marvel  that  so  few  trees 
have  found  a  place  in  our  collections  of  fruit.  Quinces  bear 
transportation,  and  will,  upon  an  average,  bring  two  dollars 
a  bushel.  They  sell  extravagantly  high  every  year,  and  yet 
no  one  seems  to  take  the  hint. 

Our  favorite  mode  of  increasing  the  quince,  is  by  layers. 
The  tree  being  low  and  inclined  to  be  bushy,  there  is  always 
an  abundance  of  suitable  wood  to  lay  down.  Twenty  or 
thirty  or  even  more  rooted  plants  may  be  obtained  in  a 
single  season  ;  and  the  layers  throw  out  such  a  profusion  of 
roots  that  the  only  difficulty  will  be  to  separate  each  plant 
with  its  roots  from  the  tough  and  matted  abundance  which 
will  be  found  to  have  filled  the  soil.  If  laid  down  in  the 
spring,  they  may  be  removed  by  midsummer,  a  cool  and 
moist  day  being  chosen,  and  the  plants  shaded  until  they 
start  again  to  growing.  If  this  is  done,  a  second  set  of 
layers  may  be  put  down  to  remain  over  fall  and  winter  and 
be  removed  the  next  spring. 

Trees  intended  for  the  fruit-compartment  of  the  garden 
should  be  trained  to  a  single  stem,  when  they  will  make  a 
low  and  not  altogether  unsymmetrical  tree ;  at  any  rate,  a 
tree  much  more  convenient  than  the  quince  bush  which  we 
usually  find  in  our  garden  corners. 

Where  the  seed  is  to  be  planted,  they  should  be  prepared  ; 
they  are  covered  with  a  thick  mucilaginous  matter  which 
ivst ruins  their  quick  germination.  Let  them  be  put  into 
water  for  twelve  hours,  and  the  water  will  become  nearly 
as  thick  as  paste.  Pour  it  off  and  repeat  the  operation 
until  they  are  nearly  clean;  mix  them  with  sand  and  so\* 
them  immediately. 


326  PLAf*   AND    i  1'   TALK 

CUTTING    AND    KEEPING    GRAFTS. 

M\N\  r\j>rricnecd  orehardists  suppose  the  best  time  for 
cutting  Drafts  to  be  immediately  on  the  fall  c«f  the  leaf  in 
autumn. 

Grafts  should  be  cut  in  mild  weather,  when  the  wood  is 
entirely  free  from  frost.  Select  the  outside  limbs  and  the 
List  year's  growth  of  wood. 

Too  much  care  cannot  be  observed  in  keeping  the  varie- 
ties separate.  Tie  up  in  bundles  and  mark  the  names  of 
each  kind  as  soon  as  cut.  A  moment's  carefulness  may  save 
years  of  vexation. 

When  the  grafts  are  to  be  used  at  home,  it  is  well  to  lay 
them  in  the  cellar  where  frost  will  not  reach  them,  and 
slightly  cover  them,  so  that  they  shall  not  evaporate  the 
moisture  which  they  contain.  Too  much  wet  injures  them. 
Half-dry  sand  is  as  good  as  anything,  and  if  packed  in  an 
old  nail-keg  and  put  in  a  cool  place,  they  will  require  no 
further  attention  until  it  is  time  to  use  them. 

When  grafts  are  to  be  sent  to  a  considerable  distance, 
they  should  be  carefully  wrapped  in  moist  cloth,  with  folds 
enough  to  exclude  the  air  entirely.  For  convenience  of 
carrying  they  may  be  packed,  in  this  condition,  in  a  box, 
and  the  space  filled  in  with  cotton-wool,  chaff,  bran,  or  any 
similar  substance. 

It  is  stated  by  some,  that  grafts  taken  from  the  lower 
limbs  of  trees  will  produce  fruit  the  soonest ;  while  those 
from  the  middle  and  top  and  from  the  upright  shoots  will 
make  trees  of  the  finest  form.  We  confess  a  slight  preju- 
dice against  the  lower  limbs  of  trees,  as  it  was  thence  that 
"switches"  were  cut  in  the  mischievous  days  of  our  youth, 
wherewith  to  apply  Solomon's  doctrine  of  discipline. 
Whether  they  will  make  upright  trees,  we  cannot  say  ;  but 
they  are  supposed  to  have  a  tendency  to  make  upright 
men. 


ABOUT   FRUITS,    FLOWERS    AND   FARMING.  327 


FROST-BLIGHT. 

IT  is  a  matter  of  great  importance  that  all  cultivators  of 
fruit  unite  in  making  observations  on  this  subject,  and  that 
it  may  be  done  with  some  unity  of  purpose. 

1.  Let  the  examiner  select  trees  upon  which  are  seen 
small  water-shoots,  that  have  evidently  grown  late  in  the 
fall.     Usually,  a  tuft  of  withered  leaves  will  indicate  them. 
Examine  also  all  the  new  wood  which   retains  terminal 
leaves  or  is  winter-killed  at  the  tips. 

2.  The  pith  will  be,  in  apples,  an  iron-rust  color,  and  in 
pears  greenish  black  or  pepper  color ;  the  inner  skin  will  be 
discolored,  and  the  wood  of  a  greenish,  waxy  appearance. 
On  cutting  down  to  the  point  where  these  shoots  unite  with 
the  branch  or  trunk,  the  diseased  sap  will  be  found  to  have 
discolored  the  whole  neighborhood.     In  many  cases  which 
we  have  examined,  half  the  trunk  is  affected.     "VVe  exam- 
ined a  bearing  pear-tree,  which  to  the  eye  has  not  one 
sign  of   unhealthiness,   but   which, ,  on   cutting,   is   found 
to  be  affected  throughout,  and  will,  undoubtedly,  die  in 
spring. 

3.  Let  a  comparison  be  instituted  between  trees  in  differ- 
ent circumstances. 

Is  there  any  difference  between  slow-growing  varieties 
and  those  which  grow  rapidly  ? 

Is  there  any  difference  between  trees  in  cold,  northern 
aspects,  whose  sap,  in  autumn,  would  not  be  likely  to  be 
excited,  and  those  with  southern  aspects  ? 

Is  there  a  difference  between  trees  upon  a  fat  clay  or 
rank  loam  of  any  kind,  and  those  upon  a  wrarm,  dry,  sandv 
loam.  It  is  supposed  that  any  causes  which  produce  a 
coarse,  watery,  flabby  tissue  in  a  tree,  predispose  it  to 
injury  by  frost,  and  thus  to  the  blight;  and  that  the  fine- 
ness and  firmness  of  texture  of  trees  growing  in  a  sand- 
loam  on  a  gravelly  subsoil  give  them  great  power  of  endur- 
ance. 


328  PLAIN    AND    MLBAftABT   TALK 

4.  Let  trees  which  arc  found  to  be  in  an  injured  condi- 
tion 1)0  marked  and  examined  a^ain  as  follows: 

(1.)  At  the  Id-raking  up  of  winter,  to  see  if  any  change 
of  condition  has  taken  place. 

(2.)  At  the  breaking  of  the  bud  into  leaf. 

(3.)  At  the  full  development  of  leaf  and  when  the  down- 
ward current  of  sap  is  begun. 

5.  It  is  a  matter  of  great  importance  to  ascertain  whether 
the  character  of  the  season  which  follows  such  frost-injuries 
as  have  befallen  fruit-trees  in  this  region,  modifies  the  dis- 
ease.    Some  think  that  blight  will  follow  without  regard  to 
the  ensuing  season  ;  others  suppose  that  a  dry,  and  warm 
season  will  very  much  prevent  the  mischief;  but  that  a 
moist  and  warm  spring  and  summer,  will  give  it  a  fatal 
development. 

It  is  ardently  to  be  hoped  that  accurate  observations  will 
be  made;  and  upon  a  large  scale.  We  presume  that  it  need 
not  be  added  that  the  exact  truth  of  facts  is  the  first  step 
toward  any  sound  explanation  ;  and  that  our  object  should  be 
to  find  out  facts,  and  then,  afterward,  to  deduce  principles. 


BOILING  POTATOES. — Not  one  housekeeper  out  of  ten 
knows  how  to  boil  potatoes  properly.  Here  is  an  Irish 
method,  one  of  the  best  we  know.  Clean  wash  the  potatoes 
and  leave  the  skin  on ;  then  bring  the  water  to  a  boil  and 
throw  them  in.  As  soon  as  boiled  soft  enough  for  a  fork  to 
be  easily  thrust  through  them,  dash  some  cold  water  into 
the  pot,  let  the  potatoes  remain  two  minutes,  and  then  pour 
off  the  water.  This  done,  half  remove  the  pot-lid,  and  let 
the  potatoes  remain  over  a  slow  fire  till  the  steam  is  evapo- 
rated ;  then  peel  and  set  them  on  the  table  in  an  open  dish. 
Potatoes  of  a  good  kind  thus  cooked,  will  always  be  sweet, 
dry  and  mealy.  A  covered  dish  is  bad  for  potatoes,  as  it 
keeps  the  steam  in,  and  makes  them  soft  and  watery. 


ABOUT   FRUITS,    FLOWERS   AND   FARMING.  329 


SEEDLING     IRUITS. 

ALREADY  the  varieties  of  hardy  fruits  have  become  so 
numerous,  that  not  only  can  they  not  all  be  cultivated,  but 
the  mere  list  of  names  is  too  bulky  to  be  printed.  Down- 
ing's  book  gives  a  list  of  181  apples.  The  London  Horti- 
cultural Society's  Catalogue,  expurgated  at  that,  gives  900 
kinds  of  apples,  and  1,500  have  been  tested  in  the  Society's 
gardens.  Manning's  experimental  grounds  and  nursery  at 
the  time  of  his  death,  contained  1,000  named  varieties  of 
the  pear !  Swollen  as  is  the  list,  there  are  scores  annually 
added  ;  many  under  the  advice  of  scientific  bodies ;  many 
have  popular  approbation ;  many  from  the  partialities  of 
some  parental  nurseryman ;  and  many  come  in,  as  evil  came 
into  this  world,  no  one  can  tell  how. 

It  has  become  necessary,  therefore,  to  exclude  many  from 
the  catalogue,  and  especially  necessary  that  none  should 
enter  without  the  very  best  passport.  In  the  main,  one  set 
of  tests  will  serve,  both  for  receiving  and  expurgating  ;  for 
no  matter  how  long  a  fruit  has  been  on  the  list,  it  should  be 
ejected  if,  being  out,  its  qualities  would  not  gain  it  a  fresh 
admission.  There  are  no  hereditary  rights,  or  rights  of 
occupancy,  in  poniological  lists. 

Titles,  rank,  antiquity,  pedigree  and  other  merciful  means 
of  compensating  a  want  of  personal  merit,  may  do  for  men 
but  not  for  apples.  A  very  glorious  poniological  reforma- 
tion broke  out  in  the  London  Horticultural  Society's  gar- 
dens at  Chiswick,  and  that  Luther  of  the  orchard,  Mr. 
Thompson,  has  abolished  an  astonishing  number  of  sine- 
cures, and  reformed,  if  not  worthless  rotten  boroughs,  verv 
worthless  apples  and  pears.  The  Society's  first  catalogue 
issued  in  1826.  Its  third  catalogue  was  published  in  De- 
erinher  of  1842.  The  experience  of  the  intervening  six- 
teen years  led  to  the  total  rejection  from  their  list,  on  the 
ground  of  inferiority,  or  as"  synonyms,  of  600  varieties  of 
apples;  139  of  cherries;  200  of  gooseberries  ;  82  of  graphs, 


330  PLAIN     AND    PLEASANT   TALK 

80  of  str.iu  1  .  rriei  ;  150  of  peaches  ;  200  of  pears  :  and  150 
of  plums.  Only  hrmty-t  iylit  peaches  an-  allo\M-d  to  Maud  ; 
and  only  /  «B  str:i\\  berries  out  of  the  hundreds  tliat 

provrd.  We  have  no  similar  society  in  the  United 
States  whose  authority  would  be  generally  acknowledged. 
Our  only  resource  is  the  diffusion  of  the  very  best  fruits 
that  every  n< -ighborhood  may  have  a  standard  of  compari- 
son by  the  reduction  of  experience  to  the  form  of  rules. 
Although  it  is  difficult  to  lay  down  general  rules  on  this 
sulijeet,  there  are  three  which  may  be  mentioned. 

1.  No  fruit  should  be  admitted  to  the  list  a>t<1  mme 
retained  upon  it,  which  is  decidedly  poor. — One  would  sup- 
pose this  truism  to  be  superfluous  as  a  rule.     But  it  is  only 
necessary  to  go  out  into  seedling  orchards  in  any  neighbor- 
hood to  find  small,  tough,  and  flavorless  apples,  which  hold 
their  place  alongside  of  orchards  filled  with  choice  grafted 
fruit. 

2.  No  seedling  fruit  should  be  added  to  the  list,  which 
is  in  no  respect  better  than  those  of  the  same  period  of 
ripening    already  cultivated. — It   is  not   enough    that  an 
apple  is   nearly  or  quite  as  good  as  another  favorite   ap- 
ple.    It  must  be  as  good  in  flavor,  and  better  in  some  of  its 
habits. 

3.  In  testing  the  merits  of  fruit,  an  estimate  should  be 
the  result  of  a  consideration  of  all  the  habits,  jointly,  of  the 
tree  and  of  the  fruit. — It,  is  in  the  application  of  this  rule 
that  great  experience  and  judgment  are  required.     This 
will  be  plain,  if  one  considers  how  many  essential  particu- 
lars enter  into  a  first-rate  fruit  beside  mere  flavor. 

Of  two  fruits  equal  in  flavor,  one  may  surpass  the  other 
in  tenderness  of  flesh,  in  juiciness,  in  delicacy  of  skin,  and 
in  size.  It  is  rare  that  any  single  fruit  combines  all  th«-se 
excellences,  and  therefore  it  is  that  we  retain  several  vari- 
eties, among  which  such  properties  are  distributed. 

There  are  many  fruits  which,  having  good  substance  and 
flavor,  derive  their  value  from  some  single  peculiarity. 


AHOUT  YRUITS,    FLO\VEKS    AND    FARMING.  331 

Thus  a  fruit  may  be  no  better  than  many  others,  but  the 
tree,  blooming  very  late  in  spring,  is  seldom  overtaken  by 
prowling  and  irregular  frosts.  Some  of  our  best  fruits  have 
stingy  bearing-trees,  or  trees  of  very  tender  and  delicate 
habit ;  and  we  are  obliged  to  tolerate  more  hardy  and  pro- 
lific trees  with  fruit  somewhat  inferior. 

A  few  fruits  are  retained  on  the  list  because  they  have 
the  singular  property  of  being  uninjured  by  frosts,  and 
others  because,  though  not  remarkable  for  flavor,  they  are 
endless  keepers,  of  both  which  properties  the  Rawle's  Jen- 
netting  is  an  example. 

In  fruits  designed  for  market,  beauty  and  abundance 
must  be  allowed  to  supersede  mere  excellence  of  flavor. 
Some  very  rich  fruits  are  borne  in  such  a  parsimonious  way 
that  none  but  amateurs  can  afford  tree-room. 

Nor  are  we  to  overlook  nursery  qualifications ;  for,  of  two 
fruits  equally  good,  preference  should  be  given  to  that 
which  will  work  the  kindliest  in  the  nursery.  Some  will 
bear  grafting  on  the  root,  some  will  not ;  some  take  well  by 
budding,  and  grow  off  promptly  and  with  force ;  others 
are  dull  and  slugglish,  and  often  reluctant  to  form  the  new 
partnership.  While  then  it  will  always  be  to  the  nursery- 
man's interest  to  work  such  kinds  as  he  can  sell  the  most  of 
— he  has  a  right,  in  so  far  as  he  directs  the  public  judg- 
ment of  his  neighborhood,  to  give  a  preference,  among 
equal  fruits,  to  such  as  work  the  surest  and  strongest.  It 
is  as  much  the  interest  of  the  purchaser  and  the  public  to 
have  the  freest  growing  sorts,  as  it  is  the  nurseryman's 
interest.  Thus,  if  another  Seckle  pear  could  be  found  grow- 
ing on  the  tree  of  Williams'  I$on  Chretien,  it  ought  to  sup- 
plant the  old  Sec  kle  tree,  which,  in  spite  of  its  incomparable 
fruit,  is  a  vexatious  thing  to  manage;  and,  as  often  in  the 
case  of  other  and  fairer  fruit,  makes  one  wonder  how  such 
amiable  and  beautiful  daughters  ever  had  such  a  surly  and 
crusty  old  father. 

A  pomological  censor  must  also  have  regard  to  varieties 


332  PLAIN   AND  PLEASANT  TALK 

of  taste  among  men,  and  to  commercial  qualities  of  fruit, 
and  to  its  adaptation  to  soil  and  climate. 

No  OIK-  man  Jit  to  make  his  tongue  tin-  monarch 

over  otlu-r  people's  tongues.  Therefore,  for  instance,  it  is 
none  of  our  business,  if  a  rugged  mouth  chooses  to  roll  a 
slice  of  the  austere  Vanderveer  pippin,  like  sin,  as  a  s\\  eel 
morsel  under  his  tongue.  The  mild  delicacy  of  an  apple, 
which  fills  our  mouths  with  admiration,  would  be  mere  insi- 
pidity to  all  who  are  favored  with  leather  mouths.  So  that 
there  must  be  toleration  even  among  apple-mongers. 

Nor  are  the  humbler  tests  of  cooking  to  be  overlooked. 
Some  fruits  are  good  eaters  and  poor  cookers ;  gome  cook 
well  but  are  villainous  to  the  taste  when  raw;  some  will 
stew  to  a  fine  flavor  and  sweetness  without  sugar,  and  some 
have  remarkable  jelly  properties.  But  after  the  largest  allow- 
ance is  made  for  taste,  hardiness,  keeping,  prolific  bearing, 
color,  size,  texture,  season,  adaptation  to  soils,  etc.,  etc., 
there  will  be  found,  we  think,  a  large  number  of  tenants  in 
our  nurserymen's  catalogues,  upon  whom  should  be  instantly 
served  a  writ  of  ejectment. 


TIME    FOR    PRUNING. 

WE  do  not  believe  in  severe  priming  at  any  time.  If  a 
man  has  the  education  of  his  orchard  from  the  start,  it  is  an 
utter  abomination  to  leave  his  trees  in  such  a  condition  as 
to  require  it.  If,  however,  one  comes  into  possession  of  a 
much  abused  orchard,  or  of  a  seedling  orchard ;  or,  if  a 
single  tree  is  to  be  changed,  or  an  old  tree  is  to  be  headed 
back  for  health's  sake,  then  it  may  be  necessary  to  prune 
with  a  free  hand.  But  in  such  cases,  the  change  should 
not  bo  attempted  in  one  season,  but  divided  between  two. 

There  is,  we  suppose,  a  critical  time  in  which  pruning 
will  injure  the  tree.  It  is  after  the  sap  is  in  full  motion,  the 


ABOUT  FRUITS,   FLOWERS   AND   FARMING.  333 

vegetable  system  impleted,  but  before  the  pores  and  sap 
passages  have  acquired  a  contractile  power.  Thus,  if  a 
grape  is  pruned  when  the  buds  begin  to  swell,  the  wood 
does  not  contract,  and  the  vine  bleeds  to  excess.  But  if 
pruned  after  the  leaves  are  as  large  as  the  palm  of  the 
hand,  no  injury  ensues  from  cutting,  for  now  .the  sap  pas- 
sages contract  and  close  speedily. 

Thus  if  a  tree  be  handled  before  or  after  this  period,  it 
does  not  suffer  ;  but  if  pruned  at,  this  critical  state  of  the 
wood,  it  will  bleed,  the  stump  part  will  become  diseased, 
probably  from  the  relaxed  state  of  the  woody  tissue,  and 
canker  will  ensue — a  word  indicating,  we  presume,  simply 
a  state  of  decay,  covered  by  or  accompanied  with,  some 
sort  of  fungus  growth. 

Pruning  before  this  critical  time,  is  sometimes  the  most 
convenient.  But  if  it  be  a  question,  at  which  of  the  two 
periods  is  the  tree  in  a  state  to  suffer  the  least,  and  to 
recover  the  soonest,  we  say,  after  it  is  in  full  leaf  and  wett 
a-growing,  viz.  the  last  of  May  and  the  first  of  June.  The 
wood  has  then  a  contractile  force,  does  not  bleed ;  the  tree 
is  making  new  wood  with  great  energy,  and  has  therefore 
a  full  supply  of  organizable  matter  with  which  promptly  to 
heal  the  wound. 

Mr.  O.  V.  Hill  thus  speaks  in  the  Boston  Cultivator  : 

"  Fruit  growers  at  the  present  day,  are  generally  of  the 
opinion,  that  the  proper  time  for  pruning  is  the  last  of 
May  or  early  in  June,  when  the  tree  is  in  full  leaf  and  in  a 
vigorous,  growing  state.  This,  on  many  accounts,  appears 
to  be  the  most  suitable  season,  as  the  wounds  heal  much 
more  rapidly,  the  tree  throws  out  less  suckers,  canker  is 
avoided  and  the  sap  circulates  freely  to  every  part  of  the 
tree  ;  but  there  are  some  objections  to  pruning  in  the 
early  part  of  summer,  which  I  do  not  recollect  to  have  seen 
noticed.  Any  one  who  is  familiar  with  vegetable  physi- 
ology is  aware  that  there  is  a  new  layer  of  wood  and  a  new 
layer  of  bark  deposited  every  year,  and  that  in  June  this 


334  PLAIN   AND   PLEASANT  TALK 

process  is  in  active  operation  ;  tin*  newly-forming  wood  anil 
bark  are  then  consequently  in  a  tender  and  imperfect  state, 
and  very  susceptible  to  injury.  Standing  in  t lie  forks  of 
the  brandies  as  it  is  sometimes  nece»ary  to  do  in  pruning, 
will  frequently  separate  the  bark  ami  wood,  especially  in 
young  trees  at  this  season.  In  grafting  late  in  the  season, 
this  is  frequently  the  case  ;  sometimes  where  the  ladder  is 
placed  against  a  branch  it  will  remove  the  bark;  and  in 
sawing,  unless  the  saw  runs  very  clear,  and  the  teeth  are 
fine,  the  same  results  wrill  follow;  if  pruning  is  done 
in  June,  it  should  be  performed  with  the  greatest  cau- 
tion." 

The  New  York  Farmer  and  Mechanic^  commenting  on 
the  above,  says: 

"The  best  time  for  pruning  apple-trees  is,  as  yet,  we 
believe,  undetermined  by  the  most  experienced  orchardists, 
but  we  are  of  opinion  that  the  early  part  of  June  is,  for 
reasons  above  given  by  Mr.  Hill,  to  be  preferred.  The 
objection  arising  from  the  fear  of  injuring  the  bark  of  the 
tree  can  easily  be  obviated  by  having  the  operator  use 
moccasins  instead  of  shoes,  and  surrounding  the  upper 
round  of  the  latter  with  straw  or  flannel." 

Downing  says : 

"  We  should  especially  avoid  pruning  at  that  period  in 
spring  when  the  buds  are  swelling,  and  the  sap  is  in  full 
flow,  as  the  loss  of  sap  by  bleeding  is  very  injurious  to  most 
trees,  and,  in  some,  brings  on  a  serious  and  incurable  can- 
ker in  the  limbs. 

"  There  are  advantages  and  disadvantages  attending  all 
seasons  of  pruning,  but  our  own  experience  has  led  us  to 
believe  that,  practically,  a  fortnight  before  midsummer  is 
by  far  the  best  season,  on  the  whole,  for  pruning  in  the 
northern  and  middle  States.  Wounds  made  at  this  season 
heal  over  freely  and  rapidly  ;  it  is  the  most  favorable  time 
to  judge  of  the  shape  and  balance  of  the  head,  and  to  see  at 
a  glance  which  branches  require  removal ;  and  all  the  stock 


ABOUT   FRUITS,    FLOWERS   AND   FARMING.  335 

of  organizable  matter  in  the  tree  is  directed  to  the  branches 
that  remain." 

Some  of  the  western  States  are  so  much  earlier  than 
t!i;ii  of  New  York,  that  early  June  will  be  equivalent  to  the 
time1  specified  by  Downing.  We  have  now  fortified  the 
opinion  which  we  heretofore  expressed,  by  good  authority, 
and  by  what  seems  to  us  good  reasons.  As  it  is,  however, 
with  some,  yet  a  debated  question,  we  shall  carefully  insert 
the  experience  of  any  man  for  or  against  our  position. 


PLUMS   AND  THEIR    ENEMIES. 

MULTITUDES  of  men  have  had  pliim-trees,  and  every  year, 
for  ten  years,  have  seen  the  fruit  promise  fair  at  first  and 
then  prematurely  drop,  without  knowing  the  reason.  Even 
well-informed  men  have  said  to  us  that  it  arose  from  some 
defect  in  the  tree,  from  too  much  gum,  from  a  worm  at  the 
root,  etc. 

The  plum-tree  is  very  hardy;  is  less  subject  to  disease 
than  most  fruit-trees ;  its  fruit  is  highly  prized ;  and  the 
varieties  of  it  are  numerous  and  many  of  them  delicious. 
By  a  proper  selection  of  trees  a  succession  of  fruit  may  be 
had  from  July  to  November.  The  trees  are  usually  sure 
and  enormous  bearers,  every  year.  With  so  many  good 
qualities  the  cultivation  of  the  plum  is  well-nigh  prohibited, 
as  a  garden  or  orchard  fruit,  by  the  valor  of  one  little  bug  1 

The  (luri'itlio  (a  very  hardy  fellow,  with  :i  constitution 
yet  unimpaired  by  such  a  name  as  Rhynchc&nus  Nenuphar  I") 
is  a  small  beetle,  about  a  quarter  of  an  inch  long,  which 
attacks  the  plums  almost  as  soon  as  the  fruit  has  set.  They 
seek  this,  and  almost  all  smooth-skinned  fruits,  as  a  place  ol 
deposit  for  their  eggs.  Many  of  the  facts  which  we  >hall 


336  PLAIN   AND  PLEASANT  TALK 

narrate,  were  mentioned  to  us  by]\Ir.  Payne  of  Madison, 
who  has  closely  and  curiously  observed  this  depredator. 

An  incision  is  first  made,  of  semicircular  form,  by  a  little 
rostra  or  lancet  which  he  carries  in  his  head  for  this  very 
purpose.  After  the  opening  is  made,  the  curculio  deposits 
an  egg  therein  ;  then  changing  positions  again,  it  carefully, 
with  its  fore  legs,  secures  the  egg  in  its  7//</'/.v,  and  pats  the 
skin  under  the  edge  of  which  its  treasure  is  hidden,  with 
repeated  and  careful  efforts  of  its  feet.  Where  fruit  abounds 
it  deposits,  usually,  but  one  to  a  plum.  But  we  have  had 
trees,  just  beginning  to  bear,  whose  few  plums  were  scari- 
fied all  over. 

The  egg  hatches  to  a  worm,  and  this  feeds  on  the  plum, 
causing  it  prematurely  to  fall;  the  insect  issuing  from  it, 
enters  the  ground,  to  undergo  its  transformations,  and  soon 
to  reappear,  a  beetle,  ready  for  fresh  mischief-making  pro- 
pagation. 

The  climate  of  the  West  is  entirely  glorious  for  all  man- 
ner of  insects.  They  can  put  the  East  to  shame  in  the  mat- 
ter of  aphides,  cockroaches,  cutworms,  army  and  wire- 
worms,  curculios,  peach-worms,  grubs,  etc.,  etc.  There  are 
many  questions  relating  to  the  history  of  insects,  about 
which  eastern  writers  are  in  doubt,  not  at  all  doubtful 
with  us. 

1.  i)o  the  larvae  remain  in  the  ground  all  the  residue  of 
the  summer,  and  come  forth  only  in  the  ensuing  spring  ? 
In  cold  latitudes  it  may  be  so.  Harris  says,  that  they 
undergo  their  transformation  in  twenty  days.  Downing 
admits  this  of  a  few  stragglers.  But  the  main  supply  of 
bugs,  he  thinks,  remains  all  summer  and  until  spring,  in  the 
ground.  But  with  us  the  curculio  is  not  exclusively  an  early 
summer  insect.  It  is  found,  in  its  appropriate  haunN, 
through  the  whole  warm  season.  Mr.  Payne  put  plums 
containing  the  worms  into  a  glass,  and  in  eleven  days 
obtained  full-grown  curculios.  In  cool  regions  they  pro- 
bably have  but  an  annual  generation;  but  in  warm  and 


A.BOUT   FRUITS,    FLOWKRS    AM)    FARMING.  337 

long  summers,  in  the  West,  they  reproduce  often  in  each 
>n. 

L'.  The  mode  of  ascent  luis  been  a  matter  of  doubt.  J.  J. 
Thomas,  in  the  Fruit  Cidturist  says:  u  It  has  the  power  of 
using  its  wings  in  flying;  but  whether  it  crawls  up  the  tree 
or  ascends  by  flight,  appears  not  to  be  certainly  ascer- 
tained." 

Downing  admits  that  it  flics,  but  says,  "How  far  this 
insci-t  ilies  is  yet  a  disputed  point,  some  cultivators  affirm- 
ing that  it  scarcely  goes  further  than  a  single  tree, 
and  others  believing  that  it  flies  over  a  whole  neighbor- 
hood." 

Kenrick  says :  "  They  crawl  up  trees,"  and  he  quotes  an 
author  as  saying :  "  That  of  two  trees  standing  so  near  each 
other  as  to  touch,  the  fruit  of  one  has  been  destroyed  and 
the  other  has  escaped ;  so  little  and  so  reluctantly  do  these 
insects  incline  to  use  their  wings."  Dr.  James  Tilton  says, 
in  the  "  Domestic  Encyclopedia,"  that  "  they  appear  very 
reluctant  to  use  their  wings,  and  perhaps  never  employ 
them  but  when  necessity  compels  them  to  migrate." 

It  is  true  that  the  curculio,  in  cold  and  chilly  weather,  is 
disinclined  to  fly ;  but  give  it  a  right  murderously  hot  day, 
and  "McGregor's  on  his  native  heath  again."  Just  before,1 
a  thunder  storm,  in  summer,  in  a  still,  sultry,  sweltering 
day,  they  may  be  seen  flying  among  the  trees  as  blithely  as 
any  house-fly;  alighting  on  your  arm,  or  hand,  and  spring- 
ing oil*  again  as  nimbly  as  a  flea. 

All  remedies  founded  on  the  idea  of  their  crawling  pre- 
ferences will  be  signal  failures.  Troughs  about  trees,  bats 
of  wool,  bandages  of  all  kinds  about  the  trunk  to  impede 
the  ascent  will  be  found  as  useful  as  would  high  fences  to 
keep  crows  from  a  cornfield,  or  birds  from  the  garden. 

All  remedies  for  this  pest  succeed  to  a  charm  where  the 
cuivulio  does  not  abound;  and  almost  everyone  of  them 
fails  in  places  really  infested  them. 

In  cities,  and  in  country  places  which  are  far  removed 
15 


338  I'l.MN     AM>    Pl.KASANT    TALK 

t'roni  all  orchards  <•»'  gardens,  the  crops  may  IK-  saved.  It 
is  not  ditlicuit  to  dcicnd  a  tree  against  all  the  eurculios  tliat 
are  ?>rul  ttjxiH  if.  Pavements;  bard-rolled  gravel;  ^athor- 
iiiLC  up,  daily,  the  fallen  plums  and  destroying  them;  the 
application  of  salt,  and  many  oilier  remedies  may  succeed 
where  the  curculio  from  other  gardens  or  orchards  cannot 
easily  migrate  to  supply  the  trees  with  a  fresh  brood. 
Trees  in  cities,  and  in  retired  places,  on  this  account,  often 
bear  plenteously. 

But  of  what  use  is  it  to  destroy  five  hundred  larva-,  if 
twice  that  number  of  emigrants,  from  some  other  quarter, 
are  anxious,  the  next  spring,  to  squat  upon  your  trees,  or 
to  enter  them,  in  land-office  style,  most  nefariously  'i  All 
remedies  founded  on  the  destruction  of  the  larvoj  will  bo 
totally  useless  if  your  trees  can  be  reached  from  some 
infected  point  abroad,  as  we  have  found  to  our  sorrow.  In 
our  own  experience,  and  in  that  of  other  amateur-cultivators 
of  fruit,  the  pavement,  salt,  and  all  have  been  "  love's  labor 
lost."  But  in  the  experience  of  others,  in  climates  where 
the  curculio  does  not  abound,  or  in  secluded  situations,  they 
have  proved  effectual. 

The  remedies  to  be  employed,  in  ordinary  cases,  im; 
such    as   will   constantly   molest   the    insect   at   his    work. 
Inclosures,  in  which  swine  root,  and  rub  against  the  i 
lanes,  where  cattle  resort,  to  rub  off  their  hair  in  spring,  to 
shade  themselves  in  summer — these  are  the  best  situations. 
In  yards  and  gardens  plum-trees  should  be  placed  upon  the 
most  frequented  paths;  close  to  the  well,  by  the  kitchen 
door,  near  the  wood-house,  so  that,  as  often  as  possible, 
they  may  be  jarred  in  passing  and  repassing. 

Where  a  few  trees  stand  apart  in  the  garden,  it  is  said 
that,  daily,  morning  and  evening,  by  spreading  a  sheet 
under  them,  and  giving  the  tree  a  sudden  and  violent  blow 
with  a  mallet,  the  insects  will  drop  and  may  then  be 
irathi'ivd  and  destroyed.  This  should  be  performed  while 
it  is  cool,  as  then,  only,  the  curculio  is  somewhat  torpid.  II 


ABOUT  FRUITS,   FLOWERS    AND   FARMING.  339 

this  course  is  pursued,  a  block  should  be  put  upon  the  tree, 
to  receive  the  stroke,  with  a  bit  of  carpet  or  some  soft  pad 
to  it,  that  the  bark  may  not  be  injured.  A  white  sheet 
should  be  spread  under  the  tro3  to  catch  the  falling 
robber. 

A  few  trees  will  suffice  for  a  private  family,  and  the  fruit 
must  be  earned  by  careful  watchfulness.  Those  who  are 
too  indolent,  or  careless,  or  indifferent  to  the  luxury  to 
bestow  the  requisite  attention  through  the  months  of  May 
and  June,  may  spare  themselves  the  trouble  of  planting 
plum-trees.  Plum  orchards  are  not  to  be  thought  of. 

Although  the  curculio  chiefly  delights  in  the  plum,  it 
scruples  at  no  fruit.  It  may  be  found  upon  peaches,  cher- 
ries, nectarines,  apricots,  gooseberries  and  currants. 


ROOT    GRAFTING. 

WHILE  nothing  can  be  done  out  of  doors  in  the  nursery, 
the  process  of  root  grafting  may  be  carried  on,  and  the 
stock  be  ready  for  setting  as  soon  as  the  grounds  are  open 
in  spring. 

When  this  method  of  grafting  is  employed  with  discretion, 
it  greatly  aida  the  nurseryman.  It  is  a  resource  in  case  he 
cannot  procure  stocks  to  bud  or  graft  upon ;  it  makes  finer 
and  handsomer  trees ;  and  it  can  be  carried  on  at  a  season 
of  leisure;  and  the  scions,  being  early  in  the  ground,  have 
a  longer  season  of  growth  by  two  months  than  buds,  or 
.irtli nary  grafts. 

Although  any  healthy  root  with  some  fibres  will  answer 
to  graft  upon,  yet  experienced  nurserymen  prefer  the  tap 
roots  of  young  seedling  stocks.  Those  who  have  apple  and 
pear  stocks  which  are  to  be  removed,  should  employ  the 
open  weather  of  winter  to  raise  them.  The  tap  roots  may 


340  PLAIN  AND  Tl. HAS  A. NT  TALK 

be  taken  for  grafting  purposes  and  the  stocks  put  away  in 
collars,  or  buried  in  the  ground. 

We  do  not  know  that  there  is  any  difference  in  favor  of 
the  root  of  one  variety  over  another;  but  it  will  not  do  to 
propagate  every  variety  of  fruit  by  this  method.  Exjieii- 
ence  has  shown  that  souio  sorts  do  better  by  root  grafting 
than  in  any  other  way;  but  other  kinds  are  very  apt  to 
be  winter-killed  ;  and  some  varieties  have  such  a  straggling 
habit  of  growth,  that  it  would  be  extremely  difficult  to  train 
them  to  a  good  head;  and  such  sorts,  therefore,  require  to 
be  budded  or  grafted  high  up  on  good  stocks. 

The  roots  being  washed,  are  cut  into  four  or  five  inch 
pieces;  and  the  scions  prepared  as  for  ordinary  grafting. 
Splice,  or  tongue  grafting  is  the  most  convenient  method. 
Woollen  yarn,  cut  to  ten  or  twelve  inches'  length,  is  wound 
around  it  closely  at  the  point  of  junction.  Let  the  grafting 
wax  be  kept  in  a  melted  state,  by  being  put  in  a  pan,  over 
a  few  coals.  Holding  the  work  over  the  pan,  with  a  spoon 
pour  a  portion  of  the  liquid  all  over  the  yarn ;  it  hardens 
immediately,  and  the  whole  may  be  set  in  rows  in  a  box 
and  covered  above  the  point  of  union  with  moist  sand, 
and  kept  in  a  cellar  till  it  is  tune  to  turn  them  out  in  the 


THE  cherry,  plum,  pear  and  apple  trees,  in  a  diseased 
condition,  will  often  throw  up  numerous  and  thrifty 
sprouts  that  will  offer  to  an  inexperienced  cultivator  invit- 
ing temptations  to  multiply  his  stock  at  a  rapid  rate 
with  little  labor.  If  he  be  deceived  by  these  appearances, 
and  propagate  his  valuable  kinds  upon  these  diseased 
growths,  his  efforts  will  ultimately  result  in  his  disappoint- 
ment. 


ABOUT   FRUITS,    FLOWERS    AND    FARMING.  341 


BLIGHT    AND     INSECTS. 

IN  an  article  on  employing  suckers  of  fruit-trees  for 
stocks,  which  we  shall  copy,  Dr.  Kirtland  says : 

"  The  practice  of  grafting  and  budding  pears  upon  this 
quality  of  stocks  has  extended  a  diseased  action,  a  kind  of 
canker  among  our  pear  orchards,  that  has,  in  some  instances, 
la-en  mistaken  for  bliyht^  a  disease  that  has  its  origin  in  the 
depredations  of  a  minute  coleopterous  insect,  which  has 
been  satisfactorily  described  in  all  its  stages  of  transforma- 
tion by  Dr.  Harris,  and  other  Massachusetts  entomologists." 

That  the  fire-blight  is,  to  any  considerable*  extent  any- 
where, but  especially  at  the  West,  occasioned  by  an  insect, 
is  an  idea,  we  believe,  totally  unsupported  by  facts.  That 
some  injury  has  been  done  by  the  scolytus  pyri,  the  invest! 
gations  of  Mr.  Lowell  and  Professoi  Peck  leave  no  room  tc 
doubt.  But  we  are  not  satisfied  that,  even  in  these  cases, 
they  were  the  cause  of  the  blight^  but  only  an  accidental 
concomitant.  Did  Mr.  Lowell  or  Piofessor  Peck  always 
find  this  beetle  upon  blighted  trees?  Was  it  found  in 
very  blighted  limb  ?  Did  not  blight  occur  without  these 
insects?  Has  any  one  of  New  Englani  since  found  the 
blight  to  proceed  from  the  gnawings  of  this  beetle  ? 

Has  any  one  found  this  beetle  before  the  blight  occurred 
at  its  mischievous  work,  or  is  it  only  after  the  blight  is  seen 
that  the  beetle  is  found  ?  If  the  scolytus  pyri  has  been  found 
only  after  the  tree  is  thoroughly  affected,  there  is  reason  to 
suppose  that  it  did  not  come  until  after  the  disease  had  pre- 
pared the  way  for  it. 

We  are  seriously  skeptical  of  this  alleged  cause.  What- 
ever may  be  true  of  the  blight  at  the  East,  the  blight  in  the 
Wrst  is  unquestionably  not  an  effect  of  the  scolytus  pyri. 
We  have  examined  with  the  utmost  pains,  multitudes  of 
trees  in  all  soils — several  of  our  shrewdest  nurserymen  have 
searched  year  by  year,  and  we  have,  unfortunately,  had  too 
much  opportunity  and  too  many  subjects,  and  yet  no  in>.  <  t 


342  PLAIN    AN'D    PLEASANT   TALK 

or  insect-track  has  been  detected,  except  those  which  have 
attacked  the  tree  in  consequence  of  the  blight. 

To  be  sure,  we  can  find  bugs,  black,  brown,  green  and 
irrey,  but  the  mere  presence  of  an  insect  is  nothing,  though 
with  many,  it  seems  enough,  when  a  tree  is  blighted,  if  a 
bug  is  found  on  it,  to  determine  the  parentage  of  the  mis- 
chief. Nor  do  the  published  accounts  of  insects,  found  on 
blighted  trees,  increase  our  respect  for  this  theory.  The 
observations  seem  to  have  been  not  thorough  enough,  and 
not  carefully  made,  and  the  reasonings  even  less  philo- 
sophical. Men  have  searched  for  a  theory  rather  than  for 
the  mere  facts  in  the  case.  But  by  far  the  greatest  num- 
ber of  those  who  write,  give  no  evidence  of  relying  upon 
any  observations  which  they  have  themselves  made,  but  go 
back  perpetually  to  the  old  precedents,  Mr.  Lowell  and 
Professor  Peck,  without  being  at  any  pains  to  verify  them. 
Has  Dr.  Kirtland  ever  found  the  scolytus  pyri  f  Has  he 
ever,  in  time  of  extensive  blight,  found  it  under  such  cir- 
cumstances as  to  satisfy  his  mind  that  it  was  the  real  cause 
of  fire-blight  ?  or  does  he  rest  satisfied  that  blight  is  occa- 
sioned by  an  insect  simply  because  so  it  is  set  down  in  good 
books  ?  The  canker  may  be  mistaken  for  blight  by  those 
who  have  not  been  acquainted  with  either ;  but  surely,  no 
one  who  lias  ever  attentively  examined  one  real  case  of  fire- 
blight  would  ever  mistake  it  for  anything  else,  or  anything 
else  for  it. 

The  insect  theory  we  regard  as  wholly  untenable  except 
for  special,  local,  peculiar  ravages  which  are  not  properly 
blights.  The  blight  is  a  disease  of  the  circulation.  It 
affects  every  tissue  of  the  plant.  It  is  not  a  disease  from 
exhaustion  of  sap  by  the  suction  of  aphides,  as  Dr.  Mosher, 
of  Cincinnati,  supposed,  for  the  trees  have  a  plethora  rather 
than  scarcity  of  sap  ;  it  lacerates  the  sap-vessels,  bursts  the 
bark,  flows  down  the  branches,  and  dries  in  globules  upon 
the  trunk.  On  cutting  the  tree,  if  the  blight  is  yet  new, 
the  texture  of  the  alburnum  will  be  found  to  resemble  what 


Ai;orr   FKIITS,   FI.OWMKS  AND   FA  K.MING.  343 

is  called  a  water-core  in  the  apple,  its  color  is  of  a  dirty 
greenish  hue,  soon  changing  by  exposure  to  brown  and 
black.  But  if  the  blight  is  old,  the  wood  is  of  a  dingy 
white,  the  alburnum,  colored  like  iron  rust,  and  the  bark  of  a 
brownish  black.  These  appearances  are  incompatible  with 
any  idea  of  exhaustion  by  the  gnawing  of  the  scotytus  pyri, 
or  the  suction  of  aphides,  which  would  result  in  mere  shrink 
ing  of  parts,  dryness  and  death.  If  insects  have  a  hand  ii. 
the  mischief,  it  is  by  the  secretion  of  poison,  of  which  fact, 
we  have  never  seen  the  trace  of  proof,  although  it  has  often 
been  suggested,  and  is  by  some  empyrically  asserted.  To 
our  minds  the  insect-poison-theory  is  imaginary.  It  is 
entirely  convenient  to  refer  every  excrescence,  or  shrinking 
of  parts,  every  watery  suffusion,  wart,  discoloration,  crump- 
ling leaf,  wilting,  etc.,  to  poison,  and  still  more  convenient 
to  find  the  insect  so  atomic  that  it  cannot  be  found,  and  thus 
to  heap  the  multiform  sins  of  the  orchard  on  the  scape-goat 
uf  a  hypothetical  insect. 

As  to  electricity,  as  no  one  knows  anything  about  this 
elemental  sprite,  his  out-goings  or  in-comings,  we  are  like  to 
have  acted  over  again  all  the  caprices  of  witch-times,  when 
elves  and  gnomes  cut  up  every  prank  imaginable,  and  when 
any  prank,  which  was  cut  up,  of  course  was  performed  by 
them.  Everybody  is  agog  about  electricity.  But  we 
respectfully  suggest  that  it  is  one  thing  to  ascertain  facts 
by  cautious,  guarded  experiments  or  careful  observation, 
and  quite  another  to  set  down  everything,  which  one  does 
not  know  what  else  to  do  with,  to  electricity,  simply  becau-r 
it  may  be  so  for  aught  that  we  know  to  the  contrary. 
People  reason  somewhat  in  this  wise  ;  electricity  performs 
a  vast  number  of  very  mysterious  operations,  therefore, 
every  operation  which  is  mysterious  is  performed  by  elec- 
1 1  it-it  y.  We  believe  electricity  to  have  something  to  do 
with  it,  only  because  it  seems  to  have  concern  with  every 
living,  growing  thing. 

We  believe  that  the  blight  is,  in  all  cases,  the  effect  of 


3-M  PLAIN    AM>   IM.I:A<A\T  TALK 

frost  upon  the  sap.  We  have,  until  recently,  supposed  it 
to  arise  from  autumnal  fret-zing,  while  the  tret1  is  in  lull 
'•i.  \Ye  arc  now  inclined  to  suppose  that  severe  freez- 
ing and  sudden  thawing  at  any  time,  autumn,  winter  or 
spring,  when  the  sap  is  in  motion,  will  result  in  blight. 
The  blight  of  1844  was  from  the  free/ing  of  growing  trees 
in  the  autumn  of  J843,  and  the  premonitory  stages  were 
dearly  discernible  in  the  tree  during  the  whole  winter 
months  before  it  broke  out  in  its  last  malignant  form. 

When  a  warm  winter  allows  continuous  motion  of  sap, 
and  sudden,  severe  freezing  with  rapid  thawing  occurs,  we 
suppose  it  to  cause  a  variety  of  blight.  We  are  making 
investigations  on  this  head,  but  are  not  yet  prepared  to 
speak  with  certainty. 

When  a  sudden  violent  freezing  overtakes  growing  trees 
in  spring,  with  rapid  thaws,  it,  we  suppose,  results  in  a 
blight  resembling  the  autumn-caused  blight. 

We  are  diligently  searching  into  this  whole  matter,  and 
hope  to  throw  some  light  upon  it. 

But  now  comes  the  question.  What  is  it  that  makes 
some  trees  so  obnoxious  to  this  evil  while  others  escape? 
Why  are  some  orchards  generally  affected,  and  contiguous 
orchards  entirely  saved  ? 

It  is  very  plain  that  the  blight  occurs,  as  a  general  dis 
in  some  seasons  more  than  in  others,  because  it  depends  upon 
the  peculiar  condition  of  the  season,  the  time  and  degree 
of  frosts.  But  it  does  not  seem  so  clear  why,  when  these 
conditions  are  favorable  to  blight,  one  tree  should  suffer,  and 
the  next  in  the  row  should  not ;  why  one  orchard  should 
be  depopulated,  and  another  in  the  same  town  not  touched. 

We  think  that  light  will  be  afforded  on  this  point  by  a 
consideration  of  the  texture  of  trees. 

When  trees  are  rapidly  grown  by  stimulating  manures, 
or  upon  strong  clay  loams,  or  from  any  other  cause,  the 
wood  is  coarse,  the  passages  enlarged,  the  tissue  loose  and 
spongy.  The  tree  passes  a  great  volume  of  sap — it  js  but 
imperfectly  elaborated  (as  is  seen  by  the  late  period  to 


FULir.S,    FLOWERS    AND    FAK.MI.NC.  345 

which  such  trees  defer  the  bearing  of  fruit),  and  the  tissues 
formed  by  it  are  correspondingly  imperfect  in  wholesmiic- 
ness,  compactness,  and  solidity  of  parts.  The  tree  is  bloated 
— is  dropsical. 

On  gravelly  soils,  or  loams  with  a  gravelly  subsoil,  or  on 
any  kind  of  soil,  which  gives  a  slow  and  thorough  growth^ 
the  wood  is  fine,  close  and  perfect;  the  vessels  are  not 
expanded,  their  sides  are  firmer,  less  sensitive  to  sudden 
changes  of  temperature,  and  when  exposed  to  them  better 
able  to  resist  them. 

Whatever  soil  produces  rank  or  coarse  wood,  a  flabby 
tissue  will  be  subject  to  blights.  Whatever  soil  induces 
a  fine-grained,  compact  fibre,  and  vigorous  tissue,  will  be 
free  from  blight.  The  same  is  true  of  the  various  methods 
of  cultivation  ;  those  who  drive  their  trees,  who  aim  chietly 
at  a  rapid  and  strong  growth,  will  give  their  trees  a  con- 
dition requisite  for  blight.  Those  who  pursue  a  more  cau- 
tious, a  slower  method,  and  look  to  the  quality  rather  than 
the  quantity  of  their  wood,  will  be  comparatively  free 
from  blight. 

To  be  sure,  there  may  be  seasons  so  extreme  that  blight 
will  occur  in  the  most  healthy  tree ;  so  disease  will  occur  in 
the  most  temperate  men ;  yet  temperance,  conformity  to 
the  laws  of  nature,  is  the  rule  of  health,  and  nonconformity 
the  preparation  for  disease. 

Meanwhile,  will  those  who  are  unfortunate  enough  to  have 
a  good  opportunity  for  observing,  examine  — 

1.  The  soil  and  subsoil  of  blighted  trees? 

2.  The  habit  of  the  tree,  as  to  rankncss  of  growth  ? 

3.  The  character  of  the  cultivation  which  has  been  em- 
ployed ? 

4.  In  short,  the  relative  condition  of  orchards  and  trees 
which  have  escaped  or  been  blighted,  as  to  fineness  and 
closeness,  and  health  of  texture.     It  is  high  time  that  this 
matter  should  be  minutely  investigated.    It  is  the  oppro- 
brium cuUorum. 

15* 


346  PLAIN  AND  ri.i:.\s\M  TALK 


APPLES    FOR     HOGS. 

FARMERS  arc  afraid  of  sour  apples ;  if  stock  have  only 
sour  fruit  they  are  injured ;  but  let  both  sweet  and  sour 
grow  in  the  orchard,  and  experience  has  determined  tli.it 
they  will,  of  themselves,  eat  the  due  proportion  of  each. 
Cattle  and  hogs  are  as  fond  of  variety  in  fruit  as  men  Are. 
In  raising  potatoes,  pumpkins,  apples,  etc.,  for  animals,  it  is 
frequently  supposed  that  the  larger  and  ranker  the  growth 
the  better ;  that,  at  any  rate,  cattle  fare  as  well  on  coarse- 
grained vegetables  as  on  others.  But  a  rank,  coarse,  watery 
vegetable  is  no  better  for  an  ox  than  for  a  man.  The 
nutritious  principle  is  the  same  to  man  or  beast.  A  fine- 
fleshed,  highly  nutritious  apple  or  potato  is  as  much  better 
for  stock  as  it  is  for  man.  If  a  variety  is  not  fit  for  men,  it 
is  not  worth  while  to  cultivate  it  at  all.  Cattle  show  them- 
selves to  be  of  this  opinion  when  left  to  range  ;  they  avoid 
coarse,  rough  herbage,  and  pick  the  sweetest  and  highest 
flavored.  Let  the  best  sorts  of  apples  be  planted  for  stock. 
If  one  has  a  seedling  orchard  which  it  would  be  worth  while 
to  graft  over  for  human  use,  let  not  its  poor,  miserable  fruit 
be  fed  to  hogs;  let  it  be  grafted  over  even  if  one  means  to 
use  it  for  stock. 


PULLING  OFF  POTATO  FLOWERS. — The  man  who  makes  his 
potato-ground  feed  flowers,  prevents  it  feeding  his  children. 
Every  ounce  of  matter  consumed  by  the  flowers  is  so  much 
taken  from  the  consumption  of  the  family. 

To  RESTORE  an  exhausted,  or  rather  tired  field,  it  should 
be  sown  in  grass,  and  stock  fed  upon  it  during  the  winter 
months.  Hogs  fattened  upon  tired  land  enrich  it  very 
much. 


ABOUT   FRUITS,    FLOWERS    AND    FARMING.  347 


THE    FLOWER    GARDEN. 

SPRING  FLOWERING-BULBS. — When  crocus,  hyacinths, 
narcissus,  tulips,  have  done  flowering,  let  the  seed  stalks 
be  cut  <lo\vn,  as  the  ripening  of  the  seed  severely  taxes  and 
exhausts  the  powers  of  a  plant.  Some  persons  are  accus- 
tomed, after  the  bulbs  have  flowered,  to  cut  off  the  tops,  as 
if  to  do  the  most  mischief  possible.  The  success  of  the  next 
year's  flowering  will  depend  very  much  on  the  care  given 
to  your  beds  now.  Many  bulbs,  as  the  tulip,  form  entirely 
new  bulbs ;  and  others,  as  the  hyacinth,  form  the  flower 
bud  for  the  next  season.  The  leaf  is  the  indispensable 
means  of  doing  this ;  in  it  are  perfected  the  juices  which  are 
returned  and  deposited  in  the  root.  If  the  bed  is  left  to  be 
choked  with  weeds,  and  your  bulbs  robbed  of  nutriment,  or 
if  the  soil  is  left  compact,  or  if  there  is  too  much  moisture, 
or  on  the  other  hand,  too  little,  the  bud  or  bulb  for  the 
next  year  will  be  weakened.  A  very  deep  bed,  or  a  sandy 
soil,  will  sufficiently  prevent  the  effects  of  too  much 
water. 

The  surface  should  be  mellowed  by  the  hand,  and  tho- 
roughly weeded.  The  most  careful  cultivators  raise  their 
bulbs  every  year.  The  careful  at  least  every  third  year. 
The  careless  let  them  alone  and  wonder,  from  year  to  year, 
why  their  bulbs  do  so  poorly — "  The  moles  must  eat  them, 
or,  worms  probably  injure  them  ;"  but  the  worst  worm  in  a 
flower-garden  is  careless  indolence.  When  bulbs  are  raised, 
it  should  not  be  done  until  the  leaves  are  dry. 

GLADIOLUS. — We  are  surprised  that  this  fine  soldier-like 
plant  is  not  more  extensively  employed  to  adorn  gardens, 
yards,  and  lawns.  A  few  varieties  only  are  found  in  our 
gardens.  Great  attention  has  been  given  in  Europe,  espe- 
cially in  Belgium,  to  raising  new  varieties,  and  many  mag- 
nificent kinds  are  now  found  in  European  collections  which, 
so  far  as  we  know,  are  not  to  be  had  for  love  or  money  iu 


3i8  PLAIN     AND    PLEASANT    TALK 

America.    The  bulb,  or  rather  conn,*  increases  very  rapidly, 

a;i-l  liy  :i  little  att'-ntion  one  may  obtain  from  a  l.sv,  a  very 

..ly.      Tiu-y  may  be    planted    with   good   etU-et    in 

.  in  clumps,  and  in  beds,  but  not  singly.  A  sandy 
loam,  well  mixed  with  leaf-mold,  is  their  delight.  We 
usually  remove  the  top  soil,  and  then  take  out  and  reject 
about  twelve  inches  of  the  subsoil,  making  in  all  about 
twenty  inches'  depth ;  return  the  top  earth,  together  with 
enough  compost  of  leaf-mold,  sand,  and  thoroughly 
decayed  manure,  to  fill  it;  plant  about  four  inches  deep, 
measuring  from  the  top  of  the  corm.  When  your  plants 
are  growing,  examine  every  day  ;  if  you  see  a  sawdust -like 
matter  about  them,  they  need  attention.  On  searching,  a 
perforation  will  be  found  in  the  stem.  With  a  penknife  slit 
the  stern  down  from  the  hole  until  you  reach  the  worm 
which  caused  the  mischief.  If  this  course  is  not  properly  pur- 
sued, you  will  lose  stem  and  root.  With  a  thin  strip  of  bass 
matting,  or  a  bit  of  green  ribbon,  the  stem  may  be  tied  and 
fastened  to  a  rod  for  support.  In  door-yards,  and  in  the 
scanty  grounds  of  city  yards,  clumps  often  or  fifteen  gladioli 
would  have  a  very  beautiful  appearance,  especially  if  dif- 
ferent varieties,  instead  of  being  mixed,  should  be  planted 

parate  but  contiguous  patches. 

TUBEROSE. — The  beauty  of  its  pure,  white  florets,  but 
especially  the  delightful  odor  of  this  fragrant  flower,  has 
rendered  it  a  favorite  wherever  it  is  known.  It  is  very 

*  Bulbs  are  of  two  kinds:  those  which  have  a  number  of  coats,  or 
skins,  one  within  the  other,  like  the  hyacinth,  which  are  called  tunicatod 
bulbs ;  those  which  consist  of  a  number  of  scales,  only  attached  to  the 
base,  like  the  lily  ;  but  what  are  called  conns,  are  only  a  solid  n. 
feculent  matter,  and  which  modWn  botanists  do  not  allow  to  be  bulks 
but  call  underground  stems.  Conns  do  not  require  taking  up  so  often 
as  bulbs;  and  when  they  are  intended  to  remain  for  several  years  in  the 
ground,  they  should  be  planted  from  four  to  six  inches  deep  at  first ;  :ia 
every  year  a  new  conn  fill  form  above  the  old  one  ;  and  thus,  if  planted 
to^  near  the  surface,  the  corm,  in  a  few  yean?,  will  be  pushed  out  of  the 
ground. — Loudon. 


ABOUT   FRUITS,    FLOWElcS   AND    I-'AKMIN^.  349 

tender  to  frost,  and  must  not  be  planted  out  until  about 
the  first  of  May.  It  is  to  be  treated  like  the  gladiolus.  Its 
effect  is  heightened  by  being  put  in  a  half  shade,  where  its 
pure  white  is  relieved  by  a  green  background.  The  flower 
stein  rises  from  two  to  three  feet  and  requires  a  rod  to  sus- 
tain it.  The  fragrance  is  so  powerful  that  a  few  plants  will, 
at  evening,  scent  a  whole  garden;  a  circumstance  well 
known  to  owners  of  pleasure  gardens,  who  render  their 
grounds  very  delightful  by  dispersing  these,  and  other  odo- 
riferous flowers,  in  various  parts  of  their  grounds,  thus 
loading  the  dewy  evening  air  with  delicious  perfume.  They 
may  be  planted  in  ten-inch  pots  and  sunk  in  the  ground 
until  they  have  begun  to  blossom,  when  the  pots  may  be 
raised  and  conveyed  to  the  parlor  or  veranda.  A  single 
plant  will  sometimes  make  a  room  disagreeable  by  its  exces- 
sive odor. 

The  roots  are  imported  to  England  from  Italy,  as  that 
climate  is  too  humid  and  cool  too  perfect  them  for  flower- 
ing. But,  in  our  soil  and  climate,  we  have  found  no  diffi- 
culty in  raising,  from  oif-sets,  the  finest  possible  bulbs.  No 
yard  or  garden  should  be  without  tuberoses. 

PLANTS  IN  POTS. — It  is  better  when  one  has  ground  at 
hand,  to  turn  out  plants  which  have  been  housed  through 
the  winter  into  the  open  garden.  Roses,  geraniums, 
azaleas,  cape  jasmins,  fuchsias,  etc.,  will  be  wonderfully 
invigorated  by  such  treatment.  The  tea  and  Bengal  roses 
can  hardly  be  brought  to  perfection  in  pots,  and  those  who 
have  only  seen  the  penurious  growth  and  diminished  and 
sparse  blossoms  in  the  parlor  have  no  idea  of  the  beauty  of 
these  roses.  We  usually  excavate  a  place  two  feet  square' 
and  two  feet  deep  for  each  rose,  filling  it  with  sandy  loam 
very  highly  enriched  with  leaf-mold  and  decayed  manure. 
The  trouble  will  be  repaid  four  fold  ;  for  nature  has  never 
made  a  plant  that  forgets  to  be  grateful  for  attention. 

In  turning  out  plants,  put  the  left  hand  in  such  a  way 
upon  the  top  as  that  the  stem  shall  come  between  tho 


350  1M..VIN    AND   PLEASANT  TALK 

second  ami  third  tinker,  then  invert  the  pot  and  give  the 
bottom  of  it  two  or  three  sharp  raps,  when  the  pot  will 
come  off.  If  the  plant  is  in  a  lively,  growing  state,  and  the 
outside  of  tin-  ball  of  earth  is  covered  with  fine,  white,  new 
roots,  it  will  be  best  to  put  the  ball  into  the  ground  with- 
out disturbing  the  roots  at  all.  But  if  the  plant  is  not  grow- 
ing, the  earth  may  be  carefully  worked  out  from  the  roots 
with  the  hands,  taking  care  to  break  the  fibres  as  little  as 
possible.  Spread  out  the  roots  as  much  as  possible  in  every 
direction,  and  cover  with  fine  earth. 

Rose  bushes  will  need  attention  soon,  as  worms  and  1  MILTS 
begin  their  depredations.  When  the  number  of  bushes  is 
limited,  hand-picking  every  day  or  two  is  best.  For  a 
large  collection  one  must  resort  to  more  general  methods. 
Drench  your  shrubs,  which  aphides  and  worms  infest,  with 
soapsuds,  made  of  two  pounds  of  whale-oil  soap  to  fifteen 
gallons  of  water.  This  is  by  far  the  most  efficacious — the 
only  efficacious — course  for  destroying  insects. 

As  flower-seeds  come  up,  see  that  they  are  well  weeded, 
and  if  crowded,  thin  them  out.  We  would  recommend  the 
cultivation  of  some  old-fashioned  flowers.  Nothing  is  more 
showy  than  a  bed  of  poppies  of  mixed  colors.  Holyhocks 
are  becoming  very  great  favorites,  and  we  saw  recently 
flowers  as  magnificent,  and  as  well  worth  having,  as  any 
dahlia.  The  varieties  of  lupine  should  be  sought  for,  and 
for  those  who  have  seen  nothing  but  the  white  and  blue 
lupines  we  make  an  extract  from  Mrs.  London's  "Com- 
panion to  the  Flower  Garden" — an  admirable  work,  which, 
though  professedly  written  for  ladies,  may  be  used  with 
profit  by  everybody  who  cultivates  a  garden. 

"Lupixus. — Leguminosce. — The  Lupine.  A  genus  of 
herbaceous  annuals  and  perennials  which  contain  some  of 
our  most  beautiful  border  flowers:  yellow,  blue,  white,  and 
pink  lupines  arc  among  the  oldest  border  annuals;  Jj.  nanus 
is  a  beautiful  little  annual,  with  dark  blue  flowers,  a  native 
of  California,  and  requiring  the  usual  treatment  of  Cali- 


ABOUT   FRUITS,    FLOWERS    AND    FARMING.  351 

lorn ia  annuals.  L.  mutabills  and  Cruicsfiankii  are  splen- 
did plants,  growing  to  the  height  of  four  or  live  feet,  and 
branching  like  miniature  trees.  L.  Polyphyllus  and  its 
varieties  are  perennials,  and  they  are  splendid  and  vigorous- 
grn\\ -m'jf  plants,  with  spikes  of  flowers  from  one  foot  to 
eighteen  inches  in  length;  L.  nootkatensis  is  a  handsome 
<lw:»rf  perennial,  and  L.  arboreus,  when  trained  against  a 
wall,  will  attain  six  feet  in  height,  and  in  sheltered  situations 
it  will  grow  with  equal  vigor  trained  as  a  bush  tied  to  a 
stake;  L.  latifolius  is  a  perennial  from  California,  with 
very  long  spikes  of  blue  flowers.  All  the  species  will 
thrive  in  common  garden  soil ;  the  annuals  are  propagated 
by  seed  sown  in  February  or  March,  and  the  perennials  by 
division  of  the  roots." 


PREPARATION    OF    SEED    FOR    SOWING. 

MANY  persons  suppose  that  when  seeds  have  been  select- 
ed, nothing  is  necessary  but  to  put  them  into  the  ground 
just  as  they  are.  A  careful  preparation  of  seed,  both  for 
field  or  garden  use,  will  add  much  to  the  success  of  a 
planting. 

1.  ASSORTING  SEEDS. — In  every  lot  of  seed  there  are 
many  imperfect  ones ;  some  are  insectiferous,  some  are  un- 
ripe, some  are  the  extreme  terminal  seeds,  small  and  weak, 
some  are  very  often  a  little  moldy.  In  some  way  all  de- 
fective seeds  should  be  removed. 

Then  it  should  be  remembered,  that  the  soundest  and 
largest  seeds  will  produce  plants  of  a  corresponding  vigor, 
and  that  by  planting  only  the  healthiest,  the  variety  is  kept 
pure — or  even  improved. 

For  garden  use  hand  picking  will  suffice.  \Ve  pour  our 
com  on  a  table,  and  select  only  the  kernels  which  are  plump 
and  large,  rejecting  any  which  show  an  intermixture  ol 


352  P1.A1N     AM)    ri.llASANT    TALK 

other  \;tri  tK'S.  Beet  seed  requires  careful  winnowing, 
nearly  one-fourth,  as  they  arc  usually  sold,  being  unlit  lor 
planting.  1'oas  are  more  uniform  in  sixe  and  quality,  and 
require  l>ut  little  selection.  Melons,  squashes,  and  eueum- 
bers  should  bo  onllod,  or  better  yet,  bo  put  into  water;  only 
which  sink  promptly  should  bo  used,  the  swimming 
and  floating  ones  being  light  and  trashy.  Beans  are  apt  to 
be  imperfect.  We  have  usually  found  occasion  to  reject  full 
one-third  of  every  quart,  for  seedsmen  are  apt  to  put  in 
every  seed  that  grows,  whether  they  will  ever  grow  again 
or  not.  There  is  no  dishonesty  certainly  in  this  ;  but  if  one 
would  habitually  screen  or  select,  and  put  up  only  the  very 
choicest,  he  would  ultimately  get  a  higher  price,  and  secure 
for  his  seed  a  universal  demand. 

2.  SOAKING  SEEDS. — Some  seeds  will  not  germinate  for  a 
long  period,  unless  they  are  artificially  brought  forward 
Locust  seeds  are  scalded  before  planting.  Peas  are  scalded 
to  kill  the  bug,  when  thus  inhabited.  The  cypress  vine  seed 
require  soaking  to  induce  a  quick  germination.  Celery 
seed  is  very  sluggish  unless  soaked. 

Seeds  are  often  steeped  in  prepared  liquids  to  force  their 
growth.  Old  seeds,  whose  powers  of  germination  are  much 
diminished,  are  made  to  vegetate  by  being  put  into  a  weak 
solution  of  oxalic  acid.  Wheat  is  pickled  in  salt  brine,  then 
rolled  in  lime,  as  a  preventive  of  smut. 

Corn  is  protected  from  worms  by  copperas  water ;  and 
peas  are  put  into  train  oil  to  guard  them  from  moles  and 
mice.  Tanner's  oil,  and  a  solution  of  saltpetre  are  often 
used ;  the  first  for  turnip-seed,  to  protect  them  from  a 
destructive  insect ;  and  the  latter  for  all  seeds,  as  a  stimu- 
lant to  their  growth  and  to  guard  against  worms  and  IMILTS. 

Some  excitement  was  made  in  Scotland,  not  long  ago,  by 
the  great  effects  alleged  to  have  been  produced  by  so  pre- 
paring seeds  that  they  would  contain  in  or  on  themselves  all 
those  fertilizing  qualities  usually  looked  for  in  the  soil.  It 
is  possible,  by  employing  chemical  mixtures,  or  coatings,  to 


ABOUT   FRUITS,    FLOWERS    AND    FARMING.  353 

make  the  seed  germinate  with  great  vigor,  and  to  establish 
itself  strongly;  but  we  do  not  suppose  any  process  can  l»e 
made  to  reach  beyond  this.  No  mere  soaking  or  coating 
can  extend  its  influence  through  the  whole  growth  of  the 
crop. 

When  seeds  are  soaked  they  anticipate  the  weeds  in  com- 
ing up,  especially  seeds  planted  in  May  and  June,  and  this 
i-  a  very  important  object,  as  crops  are,  often,  almost  smoth- 
ered with  weeds  before  they  are  large  enough  to  be  we 


SOWING     FLOWER    SEEDS— TRANSPLANTING. 

MANY  flower-seeds  require  no  more  skill  in  planting  than 
do  peas  or  beans,  for  they  are  as  large  and  as  easily  ger- 
minated. But  very  many  are  small,  and  some  extremely 
small,  and  if  planted  too  deeply,  they  will  not  shoot,  or 
will  shoot  very  feebly. 

Select  a  free-working  and  rich  piece  of  ground — a  sandy 
loam  is  best,  and  a  stiff  clay  the  worst — let  it  be  spaded 
deeply,  incorporating  very  thoroughly-rotted  manure,  i.  e. 
manure  full  two  years  old  and  which  will  crumble  in  the 
hand  as  fine  as  sand.  With  a  fine-toothed  rake  reduce  every 
lump  and  bring  the  surface  to  the  finest  state  of  pulveriza- 
tion. If  the  seed  is  very  small,  it  had  better  be  mixed 
with  a  little  sand,  or  dry  soil,  to  increase  the  bulk.  The 
sowing  will  be  easier  and  more  equal.  Scatter  the  seed 
upon  the  bed  ;  then  with  the  hands  or  a  fine  garden  sieve, 
sift  fresh  and  mellow  earth  upon  it  from  a  quarter  to  half  an 
inch  in  depth.  To  bring  the  earth  compactly  about  the 
seed,  spat  the  bed  with  moderate  strokes  with  the  back  of  a 
spade.  If  the  weather  is  very  dry,  water  the  bed  at  evening 
with  :i  watering-pot — to  pour  it  from  a  pail  or  cup  would 
wasli  up  the  surface.  Keep  the  plants  from  weeds,  and 
when  they  are  one  or  two  inches  high,  they  may  be  trans. 


354  PLAIN     AN,>    PLEASANT    TALK 

planted  to  tlie  places  when.1  they  are  to  stand.  Balsams, 
larkspurs,  poppies,  and,  indeed,  most  ilo\vers  do  better  by 
{•ciiiLT  transplanted.  Tlui  operation  checks  the  luxuriance 
of  the  plant,  and  increases  its  tendency  to  flower. 

Sometimes  seeds  are  planted  where  they  are  to  remain; 
the  treatment  is  precisely  the  same  as  before,  except  they 
are  thinned  out  instead  of  transplanted.  No  mistake  is 
more  frequent,  among  inexperienced  gardeners,  than  that 
of  suffering  too  many  plants  to  stand  together.  One  is  re- 
luctant to  pull  up  fine  thriving  plants ;  or  he  does  not  reflect 
that  what  may  seem  room  enough  while  the  plant  is  young, 
will.be  very  scanty  when  it  is  grown. 

There  is  much  taste  to  be  displayed  in  arranging  flowers 
in  a  garden  so  that  proper  colors  shall  be  contrasted.  It  is 
important  that  proper  colors  should  be  matched  in  a  gar- 
den, as  on  a  dress. 


PARLOR-PLANTS    AND    FLOWERS    IN    WINTER. 

THE  treatment  of  house  plants  is  very  little  understood, 
although  the  practice  of  keeping  shrubs  and  flowers  during 
the  winter  is  almost  universal.  It  is  important  that  the 
physiological  principles  on  which  success  depends  should 
be  familiarly  understood;  and  then  cultivators  can  apply 
them  with  success  in  all  the  varying  circumstances  in  which 
they  may  be  called  to  act. 

Two  objects  are  proposed  in  taking  plants  into  the  house 
— either  simple  protection,  or  the  development  of  their 
foliage  and  flowers,  during  the  winter.  The  same  treat- 
ment will  not  do  for  both  objects.  Indeed,  the  gn 
number  of  persons  of  our  acquaintance,  treat  their  winter 
plants,  from  which  they  desire  flowers,  as  if  they  onlv 
wished  to  preserve  them  till  spring ;  and  the  consequence 
Ls,  that  they  have  very  little  enjoyment  in  their  favorites. 


ABOUT   FRUITS,    FLOWERS   AND    FARMING.  355 


HOUSE    PLANTS    DESIGN  Kl>    SIMPLY   TO    STAND    OVKK. 

Tender  roses,  azaleas,  cape  jasmins,  crape  myrtles,  or- 
anges, lemons,  figs,  oleanders,  may  be  kept  in  a  light  cellar 
if  frost  never  penetrates  it. 

If  kept  in  parlors,  the  following  are  the  most  essential 
points  to  be  observed.  The  thermometer  should  never  be 
permitted  to  rise  above  sixty  degrees  or  sixty-five  degree* ; 
nor  at  night  to  sink  below  forty  degrees.  Although  plants 
will  not  be  frost-bitten  until  the  mercury  falls  to  thirty-two 
degrees,  yet  the  chill  of  a  temperature  below  forty  degrees 
will  often  be  as  mischievous  to  tender  plants  as  frost  itself. 
Excessive  heat,  particularly  a  dry  stove  heat,  will  destroy 
the  leaves  almost  as  certainly  as  frost.  We  have  seen  plants 
languishing  in  a  temperature  of  seventy  degrees  (it  often 
rising  ten  degrees  higher),  while  the  owners  wondered  what 
could  ail  the  plants,  for  they  were  sure  that  they  kept  the 
room  warm  enough ! 

Next,  great  care  should  be  taken  not  to  overwater.  Plants 
which  are  not  growing  require  very  little  water.  If  given, 
the  roots  become  sogged,  or  rotten,  and  the  whole  plant  is 
enfeebled.  Water  should  never  be  suffered  to  stand  in  the 
saucers ;  nor  be  given,  always,  when  the  top-soil  is  dry. 
Let  the  earth  be  stirred,  and  when  the  interior  of  the  ball 
is  becoming  dry,  give  it  a  copious  supply;  let  it  drain 
through  thoroughly,  and  turn  off  what  falls  into  the  saucer. 

PLANTS   DESIGNED   FOE   WINTER    FLOWERING. 

It  is  to  be  remembered  that  the  winter  is  naturally  the 
season  of  rest  for  plants.  All  plants  require  to  lie  dormant 
during  some  portion  of  the  year.  You  cannot  cheat  them 
out  of  it.  If  they  are  pushed  the  whole  year  they  become 
exhausted  and  worthless.  Here  lies  the  most  common  error 
of  plant-keepers.  If  you  mean  to  have  roses,  blooming 
geraniums,  etc.,  in  winter,  you  must, 


850  PLAIN    A\D    PLKASANT    TALK 

their  season  of  rest.  Plants  which  flower  in  summer  must 
IVM  in  winter;  those  \\hich  arc  to  flower  in  winter  must 
rest  either  in  summer  or  autumn.  It  is  not,  usually,  worth 
while  to  take  into  the  house  for  flowering  purposes  any 
shrub  which  has  been  in  full  bloom  during  the  summer  or 
autumn.  Select  and  pot  the  wished-for  flowers  during  sum- 
mer; place  them  in  a  shaded  position  lacing  the  north,  give 
very  little  water,  and  then  keep  them  quiet.  Their  ener- 
gies will  thus  be  saved  for  winter.  When  taken  into  the 
house,  the  four  essential  points  of  attention  are  light, 
moisture,  temperature,  and  cleanliness. 

1.  LIGHT. — The  functions  of  the  leaves  cannot  be  health- 
fully carried  on  without  light.     If  there  be  too  little,  the 
sap  is  imperfectly  elaborated,  and  returns  from  the  leaves  to 
the  body  in  a  crude,  undigested  state.     The  growth  will  be 
coarse,  wratery,  and  brittle ;  and  that  ripeness  which  must 
precede  flowers  and  fruit  cannot  be  attained.      The  sprawl- 
ing, spindling,  white-colored,  long-jointed,  plants,  of  which 
some  persons  are  unwisely  proud,  are,  often  the  result  of 
too  little  light  and  too  much  water.     The  pots  should  be 
turned  around  every  day,  unless  when  the   light  strikes 
down  from  above,  or  from  windows  on  each  sic\e ;  other- 
wise, they  will  grow  out  of  shape  by  bending  toward  the 
light. 

2.  MOISTURE. — Different  species  of  plants  require  differ- 
ent quantities  of  water.     What   are   termed   aquatics,  of 
which  the  Calla  ^Ethiopica,  is  a  specimen,  require  great 
abundance  of  it.     Yet  it  should  be  often  changed  even  in 
the  case  of  aquatics.     But  roses,  geraniums,  etc.,  and  the 
common  house  plants  require  the  soil  to  be  moist,  rather 
than  wet.    As  a  general  rule  it  may  be  said  that  every  pot 
should  have  one-sixth  part  of  its  depth  filled  with  coarse 
pebbles,  as  a  drainage,  before  the  plants  are  potted.     This 
gives  all  superfluous  moisture  a  free  passage  out.     Plants 
should  be  watered  by  examination  and  not  by  time.     They 
require  various  quantities  of  moisture,  according  to  their 


AHOUT    FUl'lTS,     FLOW  KIM    AND    FAKMIXG.  3o? 

activity,  and  the  period  of  their  growth.  Let  the  earth  be 
well  stirred,  and  if  it  is  becoming  dry  on  the  inside,  give 
water.  Never  water  by  dribblets — a  spoonful  to-day, 
another  to-morrow.  In  this  way  the  outside  will  become 
bound,  and  the  inside  remain  dry.  Give  a  copious  watering, 
so  that  the  whole  ball  shall  be  soaked ;  then  let  it  drain  off, 
and  that  which  comes  into  the  saucer  be  poured  off.  But? 
in  whatever  way  one  prefers  to  give  water,  the  tiling  to  be 
gained  is  a  full  supply  of  moisture  to  every  part  of  the 
roots,  and  yet  not  so  much  as  to  have  it  stand  about  them. 
3  [an  nre- water  may  be  employed  with  great  benefit  every 
second  or  third  watering.  For  this  purpose  we  have  never 
found  anything  of  value  equal  to  guano.  Besides  water  to 
the  root,  plants  are  almost  as  much  benefited  by  water  on 
the  leal — but  of  this  we  shall  speak  under  the  head  of 
cleanliness. 

3.  TEMPERATURE. — Sudden  and  violent  changes  of  tem- 
perature are  almost  as  trying  to  plants  as  to  animals  and 
men.  At  the  same  time,  a  moderate  change  of  tempera- 
ture is  very  desirable.  Thus,  in  nature,  there  is  a  marked 
and  uniform  variation  at  night  from  the  temperature  of  the 
day.  At  night,  the  room  should  be  gradually  lowered  in 
temperature  to  from  forty-five  degrees  to  fifty  degrees,  while 
through  the  day  it  ranges  from  fifty-five  degrees  to  seventy 
degrees.  Too  much,  and  too  sudden  heat  will  destroy 
tender  leaves  almost  as  surely  as  frost.  It  should  also  be 
remembered  that  the  leaves  of  plants  are  constantly  exhal- 
ing moisture  during  the  day.  If  in  too  warm  an  atmos- 
phere, or  in  one  which  is  too  dry,  this  perspiration  becomes 
excessive  and  weakens  the  plant.  If  the  room  be  stove- 
heated,  a  basin  of  water  should  be  put  on  the  stove  to  sup- 
ply moisture  to  the  air  by  evaporation.  Sprinkling  the 
leaves,  a  kind  of  artificial  dew,  is  also  beneficial,  on  this 
account.  The  air  should  be  changed  as  often  as  possible. 
Every  warm  and  sunny  day  should  be  improved  to  let  in 
fresh  air  upon  these  vegetable  breathers. 


PLAIN   AND   PLEASANT  TALK 

1.  (."i.ii.xM.iNKss. — This  is  nil  important  element  of  health 
•II  as  of  l>oauty.  At<(tit>!l-i<i«-l«t/tUness  is  first  to  bo 
irm«>vcd.  If  ground-worms  have  been  incorporated  with 
the  dirt,  </\\ ~e  a  dose  or  two  of  lime-water  to  the  soil.  Next 
aphides  or  green-lice  will  appear  upon  the  leaves  and  steins. 
Tobacco  smoke  will  Boon  stupefy  them  and  cause  them  to 
tumble  upon  the  shelves  or  surface  of  the  soil,  whence  they 
are  to  be  carefully  brushed,  or  crushed.  If  one  has  but  a 
low  plants,  put  them  in  a  group  on  the  floor;  put  four 
chairs  around  them  and  cover  with  an  old  blanket,  forming 
a  sort  of  tent.  Set  a  dish  of  coals  within,  and  throw  on  a 
,  handful  of  tobacco  leaves.  Fifteen  minutes'  smoking  will 
destroy  any  decent  aphis. 

If  a  larger  collection  is  on  hand,  let  the  dish  or  dishes  be 
placed  under  the  stands.  When  the  destruction  is  completed, 
let  the  parlor  be  well  ventilated,  unless,  fair  lady,  you  have 
an  inveterate  smoker  for  a  husband ;  in  which  case  you  may 
have  become  used  to  the  nuisance. 

The  insects  which  infest  large  collections  of  green-houses, 
are  fully  treated  of  in  horticultural  books  of  directions. 

Dust  will  settle  every  day  upon  the  leaves,  and  choke  up 
the  perspiring  pores.  The  leaves  should  be  kept  free  by 
gentle  wiping,  or  by  washing. 


WHITE  CLOVER  is  an  important  grass  on  flourishing  old 
meadows.  It  grows  very  thick  at  the  bottom  of  the  other 
grass,  although  in  a  good  season  it  will  grow  to  the  height 
of  from  twelve  to  sixteen  inches.  I  have  seen  it  in  low 
spots  completely  covered  for  weeks  together.  Therefore 
land  which  produces  abundant  crops  of  grass,  would  require 
extensive  draining  for  grain,  and  seeing  that  plowing  such 
land  destroys  its  life,  it  is  far  better  to  keep  it  in  grass  con- 
tinually. 


ABOUT   FRUITS,    FLOWERS   AND    FARMING.  359 


PARLOR    FLOWERS    AND    PLANTS    IN    WINTER.-(4r<.  2.) 

THERE  arc  so  few  who  care  enough  for  flowers  to  trouble 
themselves  with  them  during  the  winter,  that  it  seems 
almost  in ikind  to  criticise  the  imperfections  of  those  who 
do.  But  it  is  very  plain  that,  for  the  most  part,  skill  and 
knowledge  do  not  keep  pace  with  good  taste.  Not  to  point 
out  defects  to  those  who  are  anxious  to  improve  would  be 
the  real  unkindness. 

There  are  two  objects  for  which  plants  are  kept  over. 

Plants  are  housed  for  the  sake  of  their  verdure  and 
bloom  during  the  winter  ;  or,  simply  to  protect  them  from 
the  frosts.  Our  first  criticism  is,  that  these  two  separate 
objects  are,  to  a  great  extent,  improperly  united.  Tables 
and  window-stands  are  crowded  with  plants  which  ought  to 
be  in  the  cellar  or  in  a  pit.  Plants  which  have  bloomed 
through  the  summer  will  rest  during  the  winter.  To 
remove  them  from  the  heat  and  dust  of  the  parlor — to  place 
them  in  a  dry,  light,  warm  cellar,  will  certainly  conduce  to 
their  entire  rest,  and  the  parlor  will  lose  no  grace  by  the 
removal  of  ragged  stems,  falling  leaves,  and  flowerless 
branches.  When  a  large  quantity  of  plants  are  to  be  pro- 
tected, and  cellar  room  is  wanting,  a  pit  may  be  prepared 
with  little  expense.  Dig  a  place  eight  or  ten  feet  square, 
in  a  dry  exposure.  The  depth  may  be  from  five  to  six  feet. 
Let  the  surface  of  this  chamber  be  curbed  about  with  a 
plank  frame,  the  top  of  which  should  slope  to  the  south  at 
an  inclination  of  about  three  inches  to  the  foot.  This  may 
be  covered  with  plank  except  in  the  middle,  where  two 
sash  may  be  placed.  The  outside  of  the  plank  may  be 
banked  up  with  earth,  and  if  light  brush  or  haulm  be  placed 
upon  the  top,  in  severe  weather,  it  will  be  all  the  better. 
The  inside  may  be  provided  with  shelves  on  every  side  for 
the  pots,  and  thus  hundreds  of  plants  may  be  effectually 
protected.  During  severe  freezing  weather  the  sasli  should 
be  covered  with  mats,  old  carpet,  straw  or  anything  of  the 


300  PLAIN     AND     r;.K\<AN  P    TALK 

kind  ;  ami  in  very  cold  weather  this  should  not  be  removed 
during  the  daytime:  for  if  the  plants  have  been  touched 
with  frost,  the  admission  of  light  will  destroy  or  maim  them, 
whereas,  if  kept  in  darkness,  they  will  sutler  little  or  no 
injury.  Several  families  may  unite  in  the  expense  of  form- 
ing a  cold-pit  and  thus  fill  it  with  plants  at  a  small  expense 
and  very  little  inconvenience  to  each.  Very  little  if  any 
water  should  be  given  to  plants  thus  at  rest. 

Even  where  plants  are  wanted  to  bloom  in  the  parlor  late 
in  the  winter,  it  is  often  better  to  let  them  spend  the  fore- 
part of  the  winter  in  the  cellar  or  pit. 

Our  second  criticism  respects  the  character  of  winter  col- 
lections. 

The  most  noticeable  error  is  the  strange  crowd  of  plants 
often  huddled  together,  as  if  the  excellence  of  a  collection 
consisted  in  the  number  of  things  brought  together.  Every- 
thing that  the  florist  sees  in  other  collections  has  been  pro- 
cured, as  if  it  would  be  an  unpardonable  negligence  not  to 
have  what  others  have.  Hence  we  sometimes  see  scores 
of  plants,  very  different  in  their  habits,  requiring  widely 
different  conditions  of  growth,  reduced  to  one  regimen, 
viz.  a  place  near  the  window,  so  much  water  a  day,  and 
one  turning  round.  This  summary  procedure,  of  course, 
soon  results  in  a  vegetable  FalstafPs  regiment ;  some  plants 
being  long,  sprawling,  gangling,  some  dormant  and  dumpy  ; 
some  shedding  their  leaves  and  going  to  rest  with  unripe 
wood,  some  mildewed,  a  few  faintly  struggling  to  show 
here  and  there  a  bewildered  blossom.  In  such  a  collection 
the  eye  is  pained  by  the  entire  want  of  sympathy  arising 
from  jumbling  together  the  most  dissimilar  kinds;  from  the 
want  of  robust  health,  and  from  the  entire  disappearance 
of  that  vivid  freshness  and  sprightliness  of  growth,  com- 
pact while  it  is  rapid,  which  gives  a  charm  to  well  man- 
aged plants. 

All  plants  which  are  not  growing,  or  for  whose  gm\vt.!i 
your  parlors  are  not  suitable,  should  be  put  into  the  cellar 


ABOUT  FRUITS,    FLOWERS    ATTD  FARMFNG.  361 

and  should  there  be  allowed  to  stand  over  in  a  state  of  rest. 
According  to  your  accommodations,  select  a  few  vigorous, 
symmetrical,  hearty,  healthy  plants  for  the  window.  One 
plant  well  tended,  will  afford  you  more  pleasure  than  twen- 
ty, half-nurtured. 

In  our  dwellings,  one  has  to  make  his  way  between  two 
extremes  in  the  best  manner  that  he  can.  Without  a  stove 
our  thin-walled  houses  are  cold  as  an  ice-house,  and  a  frosty 
night  sends  sad  dismay  among  our  favorites.  Then,  on  the 
other  hand,  if  we  have  a  stove,  the  air  is  apt  to  be  parched, 
and  unwholesome,  fit  for  salamanders,  fat  and  torpid  cats 
and  dozing  grandmothers.  There  is  not  much  choice  be- 
tween an  ice-house,  and  an  oven.  There  can  be  no  such 
thing  as  floral  health  without  fresh  air  and  enough  of  it. 
This  must  be  procured  by  frequent  ventilation. 


PROTECTING    PLANTS    IN    WINTER. 

VERY  many  shrubs,  vines,  roses,  etc.,  usually  regarded  as 
tender,  may  yet  be  safely  left  standing  in  the  garden  if 
properly  protected. 

TJie  neck  of  plants,  i.  e.  that  part  at  which  the  roots  and 
stem  come  together,  requires  thorough  protection  ;  both 
because  it  is  the  most  tender  (as  some  say),  and  because  it 
is  at  this  point,  that  freezing  and  sudden  thawing  must 
occur.  The  black  soil  absorbing  heat  rapidly,  tha  neck  of 
a  plant  will  be  first  and  most  affected  by  the  morning  sun  ; 
and  this  is  the  reason,  we  think,  rather  than  any  special 
tenderness  of  parts,  why  plants  are  killed  at  the  crown  of 
the  root.  Let  the  ground  be  well  covered  with  leaves  or 
with  coarse  manure,  and  let  it  come  up  three  or  four  inches 
high  on  the  stem.  It  is  better  to  have  the  top  strawy, 
rather  than  dark  colored  manure. 

16 


362  PLAIN   ATsT)   PLEASANT   TALK 

It  is  the  sun,  and  not  the  frost,  that,  for  the  most  part, 
kills  the  stems  of  Inlt-hanly  plants.  Protection  is  otlni, 
therefore,  only  thorough  shading.  The  Bengal  tea,  and 
noisette  roses  are  left  out  at  Philadelphia  and  at  Cincin- 
nati without  detriment. 

Drive  a  stake  by  the  side  of  the  plant,  and  drawing  up 
the  branches  to  it,  cover  them  with  straw,  or  bass-matting 
wrapped  around  them.  Kegs,  barrels,  boxes,  etc.,  may  be 
turned  over  such  as  are  not  too  high  and  will  sufficiently 
protect  them.  Air-holes  should  be  bored  in  barrels,  etc., 
and  the  north  side  is  the  best  for  the  purpose. 

Grape  vines  which  need  protection  should  be  loosened 
from  the  trellis  or  wall,  pruned,  laid  down  on  the  ground 
and  earth  thrown  over  them  three  or  four  inches  deep. 
Isabella  and  Catawba  grape  vines  will  need  no  protection. 


TO    PRESERVE    DAHLIA    ROOTS. 

THE  least  frost  destroys  these  roots.  In  warm  and  damp 
cellars  they  rot.  Very  many  persons  have  no  cellars  at  all 
(a  very  frequent  destitution  at  the  West) ;  others  are  so 
small  and  moist,  as  to  be  unfit  (our  own,  for  instance) ;  and 
the  extreme  variations  of  temperature  during  the  day  and 
night  make  sitting-rooms  and  their  closets  very  unsafe 
places  for  them.  The  labor  of  packing  them  in  sand  is  not 
great  to  those  who  have  it  ready  or  men  to  procure  it ;  but 
to  ladies,  and  especially  to  many  in  towns  and  cities  who 
are  enthusiastic  cultivators  of  flowers,  but  grievously  vexed 
with  poverty  of  pocket,  this  plan  is  inconvenient. 

Why  may  not  dahlias  be  kept  in  the  soil  ?  We  think 
there  is  not  the  least  doubt  that  they  can  be  protected  from 
frost  and  heat.  Every  one  knows  that  in  spading  up  jn 
the  spring  the  dahlia  beds  of  the  previous  year,  large  sec- 
tions of  the  tubers,  which  had  broken  off  when  the  main 


ABOUT  FRUITS,   FLOWERS   AND  FARMING.  363 

roots  were  removed,  are  found  in  a  fresh  and  sound  condi- 
tion. 

Let  a  pit  be  dug  -say  two  feet  deep,  the  roots  carefully 
disposed  in  it,  covered  with  soil,  and  the  whole  protected 
by  coarse  litter,  straw,  etc.  We  do  not  advise  any  to  ad- 
venture their  whole  stock  in  this  manner ;  but  we  design 
to  select  the  inferior  sorts  from  our  stock  and  treat  them 
thus ;  and  if  successful,  we  shall,  another  year,  try  our 
whole  stock. 


HEDGES. 

1.  WHERE  a  hedge  is  properly  made  and  carefully  trim, 
med,  it  is  the  most  beautiful  fence  that  can  be  made  ;  and, 
as  an  object  of  beauty,  it  may  be  well  to  form  hedges  in  a 
wood  country ;  but  as  a  mode  of  general  fencing  we  deem 
it  totally  inappropriate  to  the  condition  of  a  country  abound- 
ing hi  timber.  The  labor  of  setting  and  tending  it  until  it 
is  established,  is  tenfold  more  than  is  required  for  a  timber 
fence;  a  hedge  requires  from  five  to  eight  years  for  its 
establishment ;  and  every  year  of  this  time  it  must  be  well 
tended ;  when  grown,  it  requires  annual  shearing ;  which, 
on  a  long  line  of  fence,  is  a  labor  to  which  few  farmers  will 
submit  for  the  sake  of  appearances.  It  is  liable  to  get  out 
of  order  by  disease,  or  the  death  of  particular  parts  ;  and, 
if  neglected  a  few  years,  it  becomes  ragged,  a  covert  for 
vermin  and  mischievous  animals.  In  yards,  gardens,  and 
lawns,  hedges  should  be  grown  for  ornament,  and  to  serve 
as  screens,  and  backgrounds. 

Upon  the  estates  of  the  affluent  where  money  is  less  valu- 
able to  the  owner  than  decorations,  hedges  should  be  estab- 
lished. Hedges  may  also  be  economical  in  a  prairie  coun- 
try ;  the  labor  and  expense  of  making  and  keeping  may  bo 
less  than  would  be  the  cost  of  timber ;  but  on  farms  in  a 


364  PLAIN   AND  PLEASANT  TALK 

woodland  district  they  are  to  be  regarded  as  a  luxury;  and 
like  all  luxuries,  they  are  expensive. 

2.  The  white  thorn  will  do  very  well  for  hedges  if  care- 
fully tended.     The  usual  materials  for  hedges,  at  the  East, 
are   the  English  white  thorn  (cratcegus  dxycantha),  the* 
buokthorn   (rhamnus  catharticus),  Newcastle  thorn  (era- 
tcBgas  crus-gatti),  honey  locust  (gleditschia  triacanthos}, 
red  cedar  (juniperus  Virginiana),  the  Washington  or  Vir- 
ginia thorn  (cratcegus  cor  data). 

The  Osage  orange  (maclura  aurantiaca)  has  been  high- 
ly recommended ;  it  is  eminently  beautiful,  and  if  proved 
to  be  good  for  hedging,  should  be  employed.  Privet  makes 
a  sightly  hedge,  but  is  thornless.  The  Washington  thorn 
is  employed  in  this  neighborhood  by  Aaron  Aldredge ;  it 
is  very  beautiful ;  will  require  eight  or  ten  years  to  give  it 
maturity. 

3.  When  the  thorn  is  used,  the  berries  should  be  gath- 
ered and  mashed,  in  the  fall,  and  the  seed  exposed,  mixed 
with  moist  sand,  to  the  frost  of  winter.     In  the  spring  they 
should  be  sown  in  nursery  rows,  and  at  a  year  old,  they 
should  be  transplanted.    A  reserve  of  plants  should  be  kept 
in  the  nursery  to  supply  vacancies  which  may  occur. 

The  ground  should  be  thoroughly  and  deeply  pulverized 
by  plowing  (spading  would  be  much  better)  and  the  plants 
set  about  six  inches  apart.  The  ground  should  be  kept 
entirely  free  from  weeds ;  this  may  be  done  in  a  profitable 
manner  by  planting  bush  beans  on  each  side,  the  tending 
of  which  will  keep  the  hedge  clean,  the  ground  mellow, 
besides  the  profit  of  the  crop.  Dr.  Shurtliff,  of  Boston, 
gives  the  following  brief  but  excellent  directions : 

"  Prepare  your  land  in  the  best  manner ;  use  suitable  plants 
of  thrifty  growth,  the  older  the  better ;  assort  and  accom- 
modate to  the  different  kinds  of  soil ;  preserve  all  the  roots, 
but  crop  the  tops,  leaving  only  few  buds;  keep  a  few  in 
your  nursery ;  set  them  sloping  to  the  north,  and  leave  the 
ground  a  little  concave  about  the  roots ;  keep  them  clear 


ABOUT  FRUITS,   FLOWERS   AND   FARMING.  365 

of  grass  and  weeds,  and  add  a  little  earth  to  the  roots  at 
each  hoeing ;  clear  away  the  leaves  at  autumn ;  trim  the 
side  branches  carefully,  and  leave  the  main  stems  to  nature 
till  they  are  six  feet  high,  then  crop  off  the  tops  to  the 
lu'i-ht  you  mean  to  have  your  hedge.  It  will  look  like  a 
wedge  with  the  sharp  end  upwards,  and  will  exhibit  a  most 
beautiful  appearance." 


WATERING    TREES,     ETC. 

WE  have  observed  many  persons    copiously  watering 
young  trees  and  garden  plants. 

1.  In  many  cases  much  water  is  a  positive  injury.     The 
roots  draw  up  a  larger  supply  of  liquid  than  there  is  vigor 
in  the  tree  to  digest  or  appropriate.     In  such  cases  the 
tissue  is  enfeebled,  the  roots  decay,  and  the  tree  perishes  in 
the  trying  heats  of  July  and  August. 

2.  It  often  happens  that  wetting  the  tree  itself  is  much 
better  than  watering  the  root.    Take  a  watering-pot  and 
drench  the  leaves,  and  limbs  and  trunk,  several  times  in  a 
day.     In  a  small  tree  a  large  bunch  of  cotton  or  rags  may 
be  put  in  the  crotch  and  saturated  with  water.     It  will  gra- 
dually trickle  down  the  stem,  and  also  evaporate,  keeping 
the  leaves  in  a  moist  medium.     This  trouble  is  worth  while 
in  case  of  rare  trees  difficult  to  be  obtained.     A  tree  per- 
spires as  really  as  an  animal  or  a  man.     Every  leaf  is  fur- 
nished with  stomata  or  pores,  the  number  and  size  of  which 
determine  the  amount  of  perspiration.     Of  course,  as  they 
vary  in  different  plants,  there  is  a  corresponding  difference 
in  the  amount  which  they  perspire.     Plants  which  grow  in 
exposed  situations,  scorched  by  the  sun,  have  a  structure 
which  admits  but  slight  perspiration,  while  those  which  grow 
in  the  sha<Ui  ami  in  moist  places  perspire  copiously. 

It  is  upon  this  state  of  facts  that  watering  the  tree  itself 


366  PLAIN  AND  PLEASANT  TALK 

is  beneficial.  The  exhalation  from  the  leaf  is  diminished, 
and  sap  retained  within  the  tree.  Beside  this,  the  leaf  and 
young  green  bark  absorb  some  moisture. 

3.  Where  watering  is  resorted  to  it  should  not  be  upon 
the  surface  ;  especially  is  this  injurious  in.  clay  soils.    The 
moisture  is  immediately  exhaled,  and  the  sun  hardens  the 
wet  earth  into  a  crust,  nearly  as  impervious  to  light,  and 
air  and  moisture,  as  if  it  were  sheet-iron.     Let  a  slight 
trench  be   opened,  and  after  the  water  has   sunk   away, 
replace  the  earth  and  pulverize  it.    In  this  way  no  baking 
will  take  place. 

4.  But  the  best  method  of  watering  by  the  root,  is  that 
which  is  technically  denominated  mulching.     Cover  the 
surface  of  the  ground  beneath  the  tree  or  shrub  with  three 
or  four  inches'   thickness   of  coarse,  strawy  manure.     If 
watered  through  this  the  earth  will  not  bake;  the  moisture 
will  not  evaporate ;  the  root  will  be  shielded  from  the  sun, 
and  enriched  by  the  infiltration  of  the  juices  of  the  manure. 


LABELS     FOR    TR  E  ES. 

IT  is  of  great  importance  for  every  fanner  to  preserve  the 
names  of  his  fruit-trees ;  and  no  amateur  cultivator  should 
think  himself  worthy  of  a  name  whose  garden  and  fruit 
ground  is  not  registered  and  labelled. 

It  is  best  in  every  case  to  have  a  fruit-book,  in  which 
should  be  entered  the  name  of  each  tree,  its  place,  time  of 
planting,  from  whom  obtained,  how  old  it  was  from  the 
graft  or  bud,  when  set  out,  its  size,  condition,  etc. 

Such  a  book,  kept  in  the  house,  is  a  sure  and  permanent 
record  of  the  names  of  your  fruit-trees.  Beside  this,  each 
tree  should  have  a  label  attached  to  it.  For,  hi  passing 
through  an  orchard  or  fruit  garden,  it  is  desirable  to  know 


ABOUT    FRUITS,   FLOWERS   AND   FARMING.  367 

the  names  of  trees  without  the  inconvenience  of  carrying 
your  book  under  your  arm.  The  labels  are  for  daily  use ; 
the  book  keeps  a  permanent  record,  so  that  if  a  label  be  lost 
the  name  of  the  tree  does  not  go  with  it.  It  is  quite  pro- 
voking to  examine  a  friend's  premises  without  being  able  to 
learn  the  name  of  a  single  tree.  Beside,  every  cultivator 
should  know  the  names  of  his  trees  as  well  as  of  his  cattle ; 
otherwise  they  will  get  local  names,  and  the  same  fruit  have 
a  new  name  in  each  orchard. 


TRANSPLANTING  EVERGREENS. 

THE  general  impression  that  evergreens  are  very  difficult 
to  transplant  is  not  well  founded  if  one  will  observe  a  few 
directions. 

The  best  time  for  transplanting  is  when  the  tips  begin 
to  show  fresh  growth  in  spring.  This  is  exactly  the 
reverse  of  directions  in,  English  books,  which  denounce 
spring,  and  enjoin  fall  transplanting — in  the  climate  of  Eng- 
land, doubtless  with  good  reason ;  and  it  is  a  good  illustra- 
tion of  the  caution  necessary  before  imitating,  in  our 
climate,  the  most  skillful  foreign  practices. 

A  friend  informs  us  that  he  has  always  totally  lost  all 
his  fall  transplantings ;  not  saving  ten  in  a  hundred ;  and 
other  men  say  they  have  had  similar  experience,  and  it  is 
a  settled  fact  that  fall  transplanting  of  evergreens  is  bad 
practice. 

Ttie  best  method  of  removing  is  to  lift  the  plant  with  as 
many  roots  and  fibres  as  possible.  More  care  should  be 
i>sed  in  this  respect  than  in  the  removal  of  fruit-trees; 
indeed,  there  is  little  risk  when  good  roots  are  obtained  and 
kept  in  a  moist  condition.  In  planting,  the  most  successful 
operators  that  we  have  seen,  mix  about  half  and  half  com 


368  PLAIN  AND  PLEASANT  TALK 

mon  soil  and  old  rotten  wood  from  the  forests,  filling  it  in 
can-fully  about  the  roots  and  covering  the  surface  with  sub- 
stances \\hieh  will  prevent  too  much  evaporation  of  mois- 
ture, as  litter,  di-i-ayed  wood,  sods  grass  side  down,  etc., 
etc 

The  old  wood  employed  should  be  thoroughly  decom- 
;  :  ::nd  that  of  the  hackberry,  maple,  and  beech  are 
preferred.  The  decayed  wood  of  the  black  walnut  and  oak 
do  not  seem  congenial  to  plants. 

When  large  trees  are  to  be  removed  it  is  often  done  with 
success  in  the  winter,  by  opening  a  trench  about  the  tree 
and  permitting  the  ball  of  earth  to  freeze  pretty  thoroughly. 
The  tree  is  then  undermined  and  upon  a  sledge  easily 
removed  to  its  destination.  The  hole  for  its  reception 
should  have  been  dug  while  the  ground  was  unfrozen,  and 
it  will  be  necessary  to  wait  until  it  thaws  before  it  can  again 
be  filled  in  about  the  tree. 


FLOWERS,   LADIES     AND    ANGELS. 

IF  ladies  wish  to  get  into  the  very  best  company  pos- 
sible, we  do  not  know  of  any  pleasanter  way  than  is  detailed 
in  this  beautiful  scrap  from  a  German  poet : 

A  flower  do  but  place  near  thy  window  glass, 
And  through  it  no  image  of  evil  shall  pass. 
Abroad  must  thou  go  ?  on  thy  white  bosom  wear 
A  nosegay,  and  doubt  not  an  angel  is  there ; 
Forget  not  to  water  at  break  of  the  day 
The  lilies,  and  thou  shalt  be  fairer  than  they ; 
Place  a  rose  near  thy  bed  nightly  sentry  to  keep, 
And  angels  shall  rock  thee  on  roses  to  sleep. 

And  pray  what  will  happen  if  a  gentleman  does  all  this  ? 
For  one,  we  have  a  personal  curiosity  to  know ;  for  we  do 


ABOUT  FRUITS,   FLOWERS   AND   FARMING.  369 

all  these  things  and  a  good  many  more.  If  any  other 
angels  have  hovered  about  us  than  angelic  flowers,  we  make 
an  especial  request  to  them  not,  hereafter,  to  be  so  shy 
about  it.  Our  natural  eye  would  delight  to  behold  in 
veritable  substance  all  the  flower-spirits  which  our  ideality 
spies  lurking  in  our  garden-blossoms. 


HORTICULTURAL  CURIOSITIES. 

MR.  Ho  VET,  editor  of  the  magazine  which  bears  his  name, 
had  occasion  during  the  year  1844  to  visit  Europe,  for  pro- 
fessional objects;  "not  the  least  was  that  of  giving  some 
account  of  the  condition  of  gardening  in  that  country,  from 
whose  works,  whose  practice,  and  experience,  our  own  cul- 
tivators have  derived  so  much  knowledge." 

We  cull  from  the  several  numbers  already  published  in 
his  magazine,  the  most  interesting  facts. 

RHODODENDRONS. — Speaking  of  the  Liverpool  botanical 
gardens,  he  says : 

"  The  principal  clumps  were  filled  with  rhododendrons  of 
various  kinds,  which  do  remarkably  well ;  the  climate,  from 
its  humidity,  seems  to  suit  them,  and  most  of  the  plants 
were  clothed  with  branches  from  the  base  to  the  top.  R. 
altaclerense  we  saw  six  feet  high;  how  fine  must  be  its 
numerous  clusters  of  splendid  rosy  blossoms  \  From  the 
time  we  entered  this  garden,  where  we  first  saw  the  rhodo- 
dendrons in  abundance,  until  we  returned  home,  we  were 
constantly  impressed  with  the  importance  which  this  shrub 
is  destined  to  hold  in  our  gardens.  Although  a  native  of 
our  woods  and  forests,  it  is  scarcely  known  out  of  our  native 
habitats ;  yet  abroad  we  see  it  the  first  ornament  of  the 
garden.  By  hybridization,  and  the  production  of  an 
immense  number  of  seedlings,  during  the  last  fifteen  years, 
it  has  been  increased  in  splendor,  until  it  now  .almost  equals 

16* 


370  PLAIN  AND  PLEASANT  TALK 

its  tender,  but  gorgeous  eastern  sisters.     How  long  shall 
our  gardens  be  iK-lii-ii-nt  in  tlii^  «jivat  ornament?" 

FUCHSIAS,  OB  LADIES'  EARDROP. — Nothing  will  be  more 
surprising  to  those  who  have  cultivated  this  beautiful  plum, 
and  thought  it  well  grown  if  a  foot  high,  and  brilliant  if  a 
dozen  blossoms  showed  at  once,  than  the  magnificent  size 
and  flowering  of  Fuchsias  as  seen  in  England. 

At  the  Sheffield  Botanical  Gardens  Mr.  Hovey  saw  the 
Fuchsias  globosa  major,  upwards  of  twenty  feet  high,  the 
stem,  at  the  base,  being  two  inches  through !  Its  drooping 
branches  were  clothed  with  thousands  of  flowers ;  another 
variety,  "called  Youngii  grandiflora  was  also  twenty  feet 
high,  and  equally  strong,  with  innumerable  flowers:  this 
plant  was  only  seven  years  old.  It  is  almost  impossible  for 
those  who  have  never  seen  specimens  more  than  four  or 
five  feet  high,  to  imagine  the  great  beauty  of  such  gigantic 
plants;  notwithstanding  their  size  they  were  well  grown, 
being  of  symmetrical  shape,  and  with  vigorous  and  healthy 
foliage ;  they  were  planted  in  very  large  tubs,  about  two 
feet  deep  and  two  feet  in  diameter. 

"The  splendid  F.fulgem  and  corymbiflora  we  also  saw 
here  upward  of  ten  feet  high,  and  full  of  their  showy 
flowers." 

The  Regent's  Park  Garden  occasions  the  following 
remarks : 

"  Fuchsia  globosa  was,  perhaps,  as  beautiful  as  anything 
which  we  saw  for  this  subject.  There  is  an  opinion  pre- 
valent that  fuchsias  in  our  climate  do  not  do  well  in  the 
open  border ;  but  we  suspect  such  an  idea  has  been  pre- 
maturely formed  without  experience,  for  we  recollect  seeing 
in  the  garden  of  Mr.  Johnson,  of  Lynn,  three  years  ago, 
plants,  which  were  then  in  profuse  bloom,  and  had  been  so 
all  summer,  turned  out  of  the  pots  into  the  soil ;  the  proba- 
bility is  that  the  plants  have  not  been  abundant  enough  to 
give  a  fair  trial.  As  they  are  easily  propagated,  ami  m.iv 
be  sold  almost  as  cheap  as  verbenas,  we  hope  to  hear  of 


ABOUT  FRUITS,   ii.<.\vi;;;s  AND  FARMING.  371 

experiments  being  tried  to  test  their  capability  of  enduring 
our  warm  sun." 

At  Ch  is  wick  Mr.  Hovey  saw  the  original  tree  of  Wil- 
liams' Bon  Chretien  pear  (the  Bartlett  of  Boston  gardens). 
It  was  hale  and  healthy. 

TULIPS. — Mr.  H.  visited  Mr.  Groom,  at  Clapham ;  u  pre- 
pa  rat  ions  were  making  for  planting  out  the  great  collection 
of  tulips  in  October.  For  this  flower  Mr.  Groom  is  fam»us  ; 
he  has  raised  several  very  splendid  seedlings,  some  of  which 
are  priced  as  high  as  Jive  hundred  dollars,  and  a  great  num- 
ber at  one  hundred  dollars  each  (£21  sterling).  It  would 
seem  to  those  who  know  little  of  the  tulip  that  this  was 
something  of  a  tulip  mania ;  but  the  tulip  is  a  most  gorgeous 
flower,  and  when  once  a  love  for  it  takes  possession  of  the 
amateur,  and  he  obtains  a  knowledge  of  its  properties,  there 
is  scarce  anything  he  would  not  sacrifice  to  obtain  the 
choicest  kinds.  In  England,  there  are  many  collections 
valued  at  thousands  of  pounds.  In  this  country  the  tulip  is 
but  little  valued,  and  a  "bed  of  the  most  common  kind 
attracts  nearly  as  many  admirers  as  one  of  the  choicest  and 
high-priced  flowers." 

DWARF  PEAR-TREES. — "The  garden  is  laid  out  with 
numerous  walks,  and  the  borders  of  them  were  filled  with 
bearing  trees.  They  were  from  six  to  ten  feet  high,  trained 
in  pyramidal  form,  and  many  of  them  full  of  fruit.  This 
mode  of  growing  trees  appears  to  be  universally  adopted 
around  Paris;  we  scarcely  saw  a  standard  tree.  The 
advantages  of  the  pyramidal  or  quenouille  form  are,  that,  in 
gardens  of  moderate  extent  only,  a  collection  of  two  or 
three  hundred  kinds  may  be  cultivated ;  they  occupy  but 
little  room,  being  placed  about  six  feet  apart,  and  being 
pruned  in,  they  do  not  throw  sufficient  shade  to  injure  any- 
thing growing  near  them.  They  afford  greater  facilities 
for  examining  the  fruit  while  growing,  and  for  picking  it 
when  ripe  ;  the  trees  are  not  so  much  shaken  by  high  winds, 
and  the  large  kind  of  pears  do  not  so  easily  blow  off:  the 


:'T2  PLAIN   AND   PLEASANT  TALK 

facilities  for  making  observations  upon  the  wood  and  leaves, 
are  also  greater;  and,  as  regards  appearance  alone,  they 
are,  when  well  managed,  far  more  beautiful  than  standard*. 
To  those  who  wish  to  plant  out  large  quantities  for  orchard 
cultivation,  they  would  not,  of  course,  be  recommended; 
but  for  the  garden,  the  pyramidal  form  should  be 
•dopted.91 

ALPINE  STRAWBERRY. — This  variety  is  especially  valu- 
able from  its  propensity  to  bear  all  the  summer.  At  the 
gardens  of  the  Luxembourg,  Paris,  Mr.  Hovey  says : 

"  The  Alpine  strawberry  is  cultivated  very  extensively 
for  the  supply  of  the  royal  tables  throughout  the  whole 
summer  and  autumn,  and  one-quarter  was  devoted  to  this 
fruit ;  the  plants  were  set  out  in  long  rows,  with  alternate 
plantations  of  dahlias,  which  were  now  in  most  profuse 
bloom ;  a  great  many  of  them  were  the  fancy  sorts,  which 
are  greatly  admired  and  extensively  cultivated  in  and 
around  Paris.  One  of  the  finest  we  saw  was  the  Bc-auty 
of  England,  purple  tipped  with  white ;  and  every  flower 
distinctly  marked.  The  strawberries  are  set  out  in  August 
or  September,  and  the  following  season  produce  abundantly; 
or  they  may  be  raised  from  seed  in  the  spring,  and  planted 
out  to  bear  a  crop  in  the  autumn.  A  moist  soil  and  half 
shady  aspect  is  most  favorable,  and,  in  our  climate,  to 
expect  success,  such  a  locality  should  be  selected  if  possible ; 
an  abundance  of  fruit  may  then  be  expected.  The  best 
berries  were  as  large  as  the  finest  Woods  we  generally  see 
in  our  market.  We  recommend  all  who  love  this  delicious 
fruit  to  try  the  experiment  of  their  cultivation.  Such  pro- 
fusion as  we  saw  them  exposed  for  sale  in  the  cafes  of  Paris, 
shows  that  there  can  be  no  great  difficulty  in  the  way  of 
success." 


ABOUT  FRUITS,   FLOWERS   AND   FARMING.  373 


THE    CORN    CROP. 

THE  valleys  of  the  West  are  regarded  as  the  corn-fields 
of  the  world,  and  the  people  seem  to  regard  the  crop  of 
corn  as  the  foundation  crop.  Lately  wheat  is  becoming  a 
rival,  particularly  in  the  northern  part  of  Ohio,  Indiana, 
Illinois,  Iowa,  and  Wisconsin.  Our  real  object,  is,  not  to 
theorize, — to  teach  "  book  fanning" — but  to  lay  before  prac- 
tical men  practical  results,  to  inform  them  of  what  has  been 
done.  We  give  on  page  382  the  method  of  cultivating  the 
potato  as  employed  by  eminent  and  successful  cultivators. 
We  here  present  the  modes  of  cultivating  corn  which  have 
produced  the  largest  crops. 

W.  C.  YOUNG'S  METHOD. — Mr.  Young  is  a  Kentucky 
farmer,  and  raised  1 95  bushels  of  shelled  corn  to  the  acre. 
When  this  was  first  published  it  quite  staggered  the  faith  of 
eastern  farmers.  This  roused  the  zeal  of  Kentucky,  and 
the  Dollar  Farmer  sets  forth  the  manner,  and  adds  a  series 
of  explanations,  all  of  which  we  give.  We  must  say,  that 
such  a  depth,  for  seed  on  stiff  soils — on  any  soil  except 
the  lightest  and  mellowest,  and  on  these,  in  a  cool  or  rainy 
spring,  would  not  be  proper.  Neither  could  planting  be 
done  in  March  in  the  latitudes  of  Indiana  unless  in  the 
southern  part,  and  then  only  in  early  seasons.  That 
Mr.  Young  did  produce  195  bushels  to,  the  acre,  we  feel  just 
as  certain  as  that  we  now  hold  a  pen  in  our  hand.  It  was 
measured  by  as  respectable  gentlemen  as  any  in  Jessamine 
County — gentlemen  appointed  for  the  purpose  by  the  Jes- 
samine Agricultural  Society.  And  let  it  be  remembered 
that  this  was  no  first  experiment  on  a  single  acre.  The 
com  was  planted  and  cultivated  according  to  the  method 
long  adopted  by  Mr.  Young,  and  his  whole  crop  was  pro- 
nounced equal  to  the  five  acres  measured.  This  extraordi- 
nary crop  was  produced  in  1840,  a  ^ear  very  favorable  to 
corn ;  but  we  are  told  by  Mr.  Young  that  in  the  dryest 
years  he  does  not  get  less  than  100  bushels  to  the  acre. 


374  PLAIN  AND  PLEASANT  TALK 

Here  then  is  not  "  book  farming,"  but  a  method  of  cultiva- 
tion practised  for  years  by  a  plain,  practical,  but  intelligent 
fanner.  Here  then  is  actual  ex pcrinice  for  a  course  of  ycar>, 
the  very  tiling  the  fanner  says  he  must  have  before  he  can  be 
convinced!  But,  reader,  arc  you  convinced  ?  No.  You  can 
not  get  round  the  experience,  provided  it  was  experience, 
and  yon  will  take  a  short  way  of  evading  the  matter  by  sim- 
ply saying  that  you  don't  believe  a  word  of  the  whole  story. 

Strange  as  it  may  seem,  these  worthy  farmers  that 
go  so  strong  for  facts  and  experience,  and  who  yet  deny 
all  iacts  and  all  experience  that  do  not  tally  with  their 
own  notions — these  veiy  farmers  are' fond  of  arguing,  and 
like  mightily  to  have  the  reason  or  rationale  of  things 
explained;  and  many  a  one  of  them  will  yield  to  the  theory 
who  will  not  yield  to  a  fact.  Well,  then,  let  us  look  into 
the  theory  of  Mr.  Y.'s  practice.  Hear  him : 

"  My  universal  rule  is,  to  plow  my  corn  land  the  fall  pre- 
ceding the  spring  when  I  plant ;  and  as  early  in  the  spring 
as  possible,  I  cross-plow  as  deep  as  circumstances  will  per- 
mit ;  and  as  soon  as  this  is  done,  I  commence  checking  off — 
the  first  way  with  my  large  plows,  and  the  second  with  my 
small  ones ;  the  checks  three  feet  by  three,  admitting  of 
working  the  land  both  ways.  And  then  I  plant  my  corn 
from  the  20th  to  the  25th  of  March — a  rule  to  which  I  adhere 
with  scrupulous  exactness ;  planting  from  eight  to  twelve 
grains  in  each  hill,  covering  the  same  from  four  to  six 
inches  deep,  greatly  preferring  the  latter  depth.  So  soon 
as  my  corn  is  up  of  sufficient  height,  I  start  the  large  har- 
row directly  over  the  rows,  allowing  a  horse  to  walk  each 
side ;  harrowing  the  way  the  corn  was  planted ;  and  on 
land  prepared  as  above  and  harrowed  as  directed,  the  hoe- 
ing part  will  be  so  completely  performed  by  this  process, 
th:i«  it  will  satisfy  the  most  skeptical.  Then,  allowing  the 
corn  thus  harrowed,  to  remain  a  few  days,  I  start  my  small 
plow  with  the  bar  next  the  corn ;  and  so  nicely  will  this  be 
done,  that  when  a  row  is  thus  plowed,  so  completely  will 


ABOUT   FRUITS,    FLOWERS    AND   FARMIXG.  375 

the  intermediate  spaces,  hills,  etc.,  be  lapped  in  by  the 
loose  earth,  occasioned  by  this  system  of  close  plowing,  as 
to  render  any  other  work  useless  for  a  time.  I  thin  to  four 
stalks  upon  a  hill,  never  having  to  transplant,  the  second 
plowing  being  performed  with  the  moldboard  toward  the 
rows  of  corn ;  and  so  rapid  has  been  the  growth  of  the  corn 
between  the  first  and  second  plowings,  that  this  is  per- 
formed with  ease ;  and  when  in  this  stage,  I  consider  my 
crop  safe — my  general  rule  being,  never  to  plow  my  corn 
more  than  four  times,  and  harrow  once.  My  practice  is,  to 
put  a  field  in  corn  two  successive  years,  then  grass  it,  and 
let  it  lie  eight  years — a  rule  from  which  I  never  deviate. 
Now,  I  do  not  pretend  that  the  labor  bestowed  upon  a  sod- 
field  to  put  it  in  a  state  of  thorough  cultivation,  does  not 
meet  with  a  fair  equivalent  from  one  crop  ;  but  I  presume 
no  farmer  will  doubt  when  I  say  the  second  year's  crop 
from  sod  land  is  better  than  the  first,  with  not  more  than  one 
half  the  labor.  The  best  system  of  farming  is  to  produce  the 
greatest  amount  of  profit  from  the  smallest  amount  of  labor." 

Now  what  are  the  essentials  of  this  method  ? 

First — Fertility  of  soil,  kept  up  by  his  system  of  manur- 
ing and  grass,  of  which  we  shall  not  speak. 

Second — Early  planting.  In  consequence  of  this,  the 
corn  matures  before  the  dry  season  commences,  and  every 
farmer  knows  that  plenty  of  rain  will  make  a  good  crop  of 
corn  in  almost  any  soil.  They  all  know  that  the  essential 
thing* for  corn  is  rain,  and  there  is  generally  plenty  of  rain 
till  about  the  1st  of  July.  Mr.  Young  might  plant  his  corn 
considerably  later  and  have  it  come  up  as  early,  and  grow 
off  more  rapidly,  by  soaking  it  in  a  solution  of  saltpetre. 
Thus  would  the  effect  of  frost  and  chilly  mornings  be  in  a 
degree  avoided,  while  we  feel  confident,  from  our  own  expe- 
rience, all  injury  from  the  cut-worm  would  be  avoided. 

Third — Close  planting.  Every  farmer  must  know  that 
to  produce  the  heaviest  possible  crop,  a  certain  number  of 
stalks  must  be  upon  the  ground.  It  is  often  observed  that 


376  PLAIN   AND  PLEASANT  TALK 

the  great  sin  of  American  agriculture  is  too  thin  sowing. 
Grass  is  nearly  always  sowed  too  thin,  and  the  same  is  true 
of  small  grain.  In  England  they  sow  four  and  five  and 
sometimes  six  bushels  of  oats  to  the  acre;  in  this  country 
generally  not  more  than  a  bushel  or  a  bushel  and  a  half. 
Hence  in  England  they  yield  three  or  four  times  as  heavy  as 
in  this  country  ;  while  in  this  country  we  never  hear  of  an 
extraordinary  crop  where  less  than  three  or  four  bushels 
to  the  acre  were  sown.  Now,  we  venture  to  ailirm  that  no 
very  large  corn  crop  was  ever  grown  unless  it  was  planted 
more  than  usually  thick.  In  the  crop  of  George  W.  Wil- 
liams, of  Bourbon  county,  Kentucky,  the  com  was  planted  in 
rows  two  feet  apart,  with  a  stalk  every  foot  in  the  rows. 
This  crop  produced  167  bushels  to  the  acre.  But  there  is 
another  important  advantage  of  close  planting.  The  com 
very  soon  becomes  so  dense  that  the  ground  is  shaded,  and 
the  growth  of  the  grass  is  prevented,  and  the  moisture 
retained  in  the  soil.  By  this  method  of  cultivation,  no 
grass  is  ever  allowed  to  absorb  the  moisture  from  the  earth, 
or  to  take  up  the  nutritious  gases  which  ought  to  be  appro- 
priated exclusively  to  the  corn. 

Fourth — Deep  planting.  This  probably  operates  favor- 
ably by  giving  the  roots  a  bedding  where  the  soil  is  always 
moist.  Another  advantage  may  be  that  the  roots  are  thus 
not  so  liable  to  be  broken  by  the  plow  in  cultivation.  But  it 
must  be  here  noted,  that  by  Mr.  Young's  methed,  the  corn 
is  "  laid  by  "  before  the  roots  are  so  extended  as  to  be  liable 
to  much  injury  from  the  plow. 

Fifth  and  last — It  will  be  observed  that,  by  Mr.  Young's 
method,  the  soil  is  kept  very  friable  and  loose,  and  that  to 
a  considerable  depth.  This  may  be  considered  the  all- 
essential  point  in  husbandry.  One  of  the  chief  advantages 
of  all  majmres  is,  so  to  divide  the  soil  that  the  atmos- 
phere, from  which  plants  derive  their  principal  nutri- 
ment, may  freely  penetrate  to  the  roots  of  the  plants.  In 
such  a  loose  soil,  too,  it  is  well  known  that  much  less  rain  is 


•  ABOUT   FRUITS,    FLOWERS   AND   FARMING.  377 

requisite  than  in  a  stiff,  cold,  close  soil.  For  this  reason, 
gravel,  sand,  or  sawdust  is  often  the  best  manure  that  can 
U  |  Mil  IIJMIH  a  stiff  soil.  In  the  full  of  the  year,  Mr.  Young 
turns  down  very  deep  a  thick-rooted  sod  of  eight  years' 
standing.  The  vegetable  matter  in  the  sod  will  obviously 
keep  the  soil  very  loose  for  a  year  or  two  by  mechanical 
division,  as  well  as  by  the  slow  fermentation  of  this  matter 
in  the  soil.  But  this  is  not  all.  The  soil  is  deeply  broken 
up  before  planting ;  it  is  harrowed  thoroughly  as  soon  as 
the  corn  comes  up,  and  then  there  is  a  rapid  succession  of 
plowing,  until  the  ground  is  shaded  by  the  corn,  and  plow- 
ing is  no  longer  possible  or  necessary.  "No  doubt  the 
plow  is  preferable  to  the  hand-hoe  or  cultivator  in  the  case 
of  Mr.  Young ;  for  it  makes  the  soil  loose  to  a  greater 
depth,  and  we  have  already  explained  that,  according  to 
his  method,  the  roots  of  the  corn  are  not  exposed  to  injury 
from  the  plow. 

We  append  to  this  account  of  Mr.  Young's  method,  that 
of  several  other  cultivators,  and  are  indebted  for  them  to  the 
Western  Farmer  and  Guardian.  In  Mr.  Miller's  account 
the  reader  will  observe  the  depth  of  planting  in  a  stiff  clay. 

MR.  SUTTON'S  METHOD. — Mr.  James  M.  Sutton,  of 
St.  George,  Delaware,  who  raised  upon  seventy-nine  acres 
6,284  bushels  of  com,  and  who  gives  an  accurate  and 
detailed  account  of  the  condition  and  cultivation  of  each 
field,  makes  this  remark  in  relation  to  the  use  of  the  plow : 

"  In  order  to  test  the  advantage  of  the  cultivator  over 
the  plow,  for  tilling  corn,  he  nad  five  rows  in  this  field  that 
he  lapped  the  furrow  to,  with  a  plow,  previous  to  going 
over  it  the  last  tune  with  the  cultivator.  He  soon  dis- 
covered that  the  growth  of  these  five  rows  fell  short,  in 
height,  of  those  adjacent,  and  yielded  one-fifth  less  com. 

"  There  is  no  doubt  but  the  true  mode  of  tilling  corn, 
especially  where  sod-ground  is  used,  is  to  plow  deep,  and 
use  nothing  but  the  fallow  and  flake-harrow  for  its  cultiva- 
tion. By  not  disturbing  the  sod  plowed  down,  it  remains 


378  PLAIN   AND   PLEASANT  TALK 

there  as  a  reservoir  of  moisture,  and  an  exhilarating  prin- 
ciple throughout  the  season,  to  the  growth  of  the  corn." 

Upon  Mr.  Button's  report  of  his  crop,  Judge  Buel  adds 
the  following : 

"  The  management  which  led  to  the  extraordinary  pro- 
duct of  corn,  should  be  deeply  impressed  upon  the  mind  of 
every  corn-grower.  1,  The  ground  was  WELL  dunged  with 
LONG  manure ;  2,  it  was  planted  on  a  grass  lay,  one  deep 
plowing;  3,  it  was  well  pulverized  with  the  harrow;  4, 
the  plow  was  not  used  in  the  after-culture,  nor  the  corn 
hilled,  but  the  cultivator  only  used ;  5,  the  sod  was  not 
disturbed,  nor  the  manure  turned  to  the  surface ;  and  6, 
the  corn  was  cut  at  the  ground  when  it  was  fit  to  top. 
These  are  the  points  which  we  have  repeatedly  urged  in 
treating  of  the  culture  of  this  crop ;  and  their  correctness 
is  put  beyond  question  by  this  notable  result.  The  value  of 
lime  and  marl  are  well  illustrated  in  the  second  experiment." 

Mr.  Charles  H.  Tomlinson,  of  Schenectady,  N.  Y.,  in  giv- 
ing an  account  of  his  experience  says : 

"  The  two  last  years'  corn  has  been  raised  in  the  follow- 
ing manner,  on  the  Mohawk  Flats  near  this  city.  If  in 
grass,  the  land  is  plowed  and  well  harrowed,  lengthwise  of 
the  furrow,  without  disturbing  the  sward.  The  ground  is 
then  prepared  for  planting,  by  being  marked  out  two  and  a 
half  feet  one  way  and  three  feet  the  other.  The  last  season, 
the  field  was  rolled  after  being  planted,  with  evident  benefit, 
as  it  made  it  level.  When  the  corn  is  three  inches  high, 
the  cultivator  is  passed  through  both  ways ;  and  twice 
afterward  it  is  used  in  the  same  manner ;  no  hills  are  made, 
but  the  ground  is  kept  level.  Neither  hand-hoe  nor  plow 
are  used,  after  the  corn  is  planted.  Fields  manured  with 
coarse  manure  have  been  tilled  in  the  same  manner.  Corn 
tilled  in  this  way  is  as  clean  of  weeds  as  when  tilled  in  the  * 
usual  way :  it  is  no  more  liable  to  be  blown  down,  and  the 
produce  equally  good.  It  saves  a  great  deal  of  hard  labor, 
which  is  an  expensive  item  in  the  usual  culture  of  corn. 


ABOUT  FEUIT8,   FLO  WEBS   AND  FARMING.  379 

Last  October,  ten  rods  were  measured  out  in  two  different 
places,  in  a  corn-field,  on  grass  land — the  one  yielding  ten, 
the  other  nine,  bushels  of  ears.  In  one  corn-field,  after 
the  last  dressing  in  July,  timothy  and  clover-seed  were 
sown,  and  in  the  fall  the  grass  appeared  to  have  taken  as 
well  as  it  has  done  in  adjoining  fields  where  it  had  been 
sown  with  oats." 

Upon  which  Judge  Buel  again  remarks :  "  All,  or  nearly 
all,  the  accounts  we  have  published  of  great  products  of 
Indian  corn,  agree  in  two  particulars,  viz.  hi  not  using 
the  plow  in  the  culture,  and  in  not  earthing,  or  but  very 
slightly,  the  hills.  These  results  go  to  demonstrate,  that 
the  entire  roots  are  essential  to  the  vigor  of  the  crops,  and 
to  enable  them  to  perform  their  functions  as  nature  designed, 
must  be  near  the  surface.  If  the  roots  are  severed  witli 
the  plow,  in  dressing  the  crop,  the  plants  are  deprived  of  a 
portion  of  their  nourishment ;  and  if  they  are  buried  deep 
by  hilling,  the  plant  is  partially  exhausted  hi  throwing  out 
a  new  set  near  the  surface,  where  alone  they  can  perform  all 
their  offices.  There  is  another  material  advantage  in  this 
mode  of  cultivating  the  corn  crop — it  saves  a  vast  deal  of 
manual  labor." 

The  preceding  considerations  justify  us  in  recommending, 
that  in  the  management  of  the  Indian  corn  crop,  the  fol- 
lowing rules  be  observed,  or  at  least  partially,  so  far  as  to 
test  their  correctness. 

1.  That  the  corn  harrow  and  cultivator  be  substituted 
for  the  plow  in  the  culture  of  the  crop. 

2.  That  the  plants  be  not  hilled,  or  but  slightly  so — this 
not  to  prevent  the  soil  being  often  stirred  and  kept  clean,  and, 

3.  That  in  harvesting,  the  crop  be  cut  at  the  ground  as 
soon  as  the  grain  is  glazed. 

Again,  in  reference  to  the  system  of  level  cultivation  of 
corn,  Judge  Buel  remarks : 

"  The  experience  of  the  last  two  years  has  been  sufficient 
to  admonish  us,  that  without  due  precaution,  our  crops  ot 


380  PLAIN  AND  PLEASANT  TALK 

Indian  corn  will  not  pay  for  the  labor  bestowed  on  the  cul- 
ture ;  and  yet,  that  where  due  attention  has  been  paid  to 
soil,  manure,  st-o»l  and  harvesting,  the  return  has  been 
bountiful,  notwithstanding  bad  seasons.  Having  been  uni- 
formly successful  in  the  culture  of  this  crop,  we  feel 
justified  in  repeating  some  leading  directions  for  its  manage- 
ment." 

"  AFTER-CULTURE. — In  this  the  plow  should  not  be  used 
if  the  corn  harrow  and  cultivator  can  be  had,  and  if  used, 
should  not  be  suffered  to  penetrate  the  soil  more  than  two 
or  three  inches.  The  plow  tears  the  roots,  turns  up  and 
wastes  the  manure,  and  increases  the  injuries  of  drought. 
The  main  object  is  to  extirpate  weeds,  and  to  keep  the 
surface  mellow  and  open,  that  the  heat,  air  and  moisture 
may  exert  better  their  kind  influences  upon  the  vegetable 
matter  in  the  soil,  in  converting  it  into  nutriment  for  the 
crop.  At  the  first  dressing,  with  the  hand-hoe,  the  plants 
are  reduced  to  four,  or  three,  in  a  hill,  the  surface  is  broken 
among  the  plants,  the  weeds  carefully  extirpated,  and  a  lit- 
tle fresh  mold  gathered  to  the  hill.  At  the  second  dressing, 
a  like  process  is  observed,  taking  care  that  the  earthing 
shall  not  exceed  one  inch  and  a  halfj  that  the  hill  be  broad 
and  flat,  and  that  the  earth  for  this  purpose  be  not  taken 
from  one  place,  but  gathered  from  the  surface  between  the 
rows,  where  it  has  been  loosened  by  the  cultivator." 

MB*  MILLER'S  METHOD. 

"  GEORGETOWN  x  ROADS,  Kent  Co^  Md. 

"  I  have  just  finished  measuring  the  corn  that  grew  this 
year  on  a  lot  of  mine  of  five  and  a  half  acres,  and  have 
measured  105i  barrels  and  one  bushel  of  ears,  making  103 
bushels  of  corn  per  acre.  The  following  is  the  manner  in 
which  I  prepared  the  ground,  etc.  The  soil  is  a  stiff  clay : 
and  one  and  a  half  acres  of  said  lot  was  in  clover  last  y«'ur, 


ABOUT  FRUITS,    FLOWERS    AND  FARMING.  381 

the  balance  in  wheat.  I  put  265  two-horse  cart  loads  of 
barn-yard  manure  on  it :  the  manure  was  coarse,  made  out  of 
straw,  corn-tops  and  husks,  hauled  into  the  yard  in  January 
and  February,  and  hauled  out  in  March  and  April,  conse- 
quently was  very  little  rotted.  I  spread  it  regularly  and 
plowed  it  down  with  a  large  concave  plow,  seven  inches  deep. 
I  then  harrowed  it  twice  the  same  way  it  was  plowed.  I  then 
had  the  rows  marked  out  with  a  small  plow,  three  feet  ten 
inches  wide,  and  one  and  a  half  inches  deep.  I  planted  my 
corn  from  eighteen  to  twenty-two  inches  apart,  and  covered 
it  with  hoes:  just  drawing  the  furrows  over  the  corn, 
which  covered  it  one  and  a  half  inches  below  the  sur- 
face. When  the  corn  was  four  inches  high,  I  harrowed  it, 
and  thinned  it  to  two  stalks  in  the  hill :  in  about  two  weeks 
after  harrowing,  I  cultivated  it:  about  the  15th  of  June  I 
cultivated  it  again,  which  was  all  the  tillage  I  gave  it.  We 
farmers  of  the  eastern  shore  count  our  corn  by  the 
thousand :  I  had  38,640  hills  on  my  lot,  and  I  think  my  corn 
would  have  been  better  had  I  planted  earlier :  I  did  not 
plant  until  the  last  of  April.  I  think  the  planting  of  corn 
shallow  and  working  it  with  the  cultivator  is  much  the  best 
way,  especially  on  clover  lay. 

MR.  HOPKINS'  METHOD. — "  Soil  and  Culture. — The  soil 
is  a  warm  sandy  loam.  It  was  plowed  deep  in  the  autumn. 
About  the  first  of  May,  I  carried  on,  and  spread  all  over 
the  ground,  about  thirty  loads  of  stable  and  barn-yard 
unfermented  manure,  then  rolled  and  harrowed  the  ground 
well,  being  careful  not  to  disturb  the  sod,  which  was  timo- 
thy, and  mown  the  summer  preceding ;  and  on  the  9th  and 
10th  of  May  planted  the  same,  two  and  a  half  feet  between 
the  rows,  and  fifteen  inches  between  the  hills.  It  was 
dressed  with  ashes  when  it  made  its  appearance  above 
ground.  On  the  10th  June  commenced  weeding  and  thin- 
ning, leaving  from  two  to  four  of  the  best  spears  in  earh 
hill,  the  whole  averaging  about  three  spears  in  a  hill.  After 
this  I  ashed  it  again,  using  in  all  about  ten  bushels  of  good 


382  PLAIN  AND  PLEASANT  TALK. 

unleached  house  ashes.  On  the  10th  of  July  commenced 
hoeing,  and  at  the  same  time  took  off  all  the  suckers — put 
no  more  about  the  hills  than  we  took  from  them,  but  care- 
fully cleaned  out  all  the  weeds  from  the  hills.  The  seed 
was  prepared  by  simply  wetting  it  with  warm  water,  and 
rolling  it  in  plaster. 

"  HARVESTING. — The  corn  was  cut  up  on  the  1 8th  Sep- 
tember at  the  ground,  and  shocked  in  small  shocks ;  and  on 
the  9th  of  October  it  was  housed  and  husked,  and  subse- 
quently threshed  and  measured. 

"  PRODUCT. — Ninety-nine  bushels  of  first-rate  corn,  with- 
out even  a  nubbin  of  soft  or  poor  grain,  owing  to  the  fact, 
probably,  that  there  were  no  suckers  on  which  to  grow 
them." 


POTATO     CROP. 

THE  potato  crop  has  never  been  as  much  attended  to  in 
this  region  as  in  New  York,  and  New  England.  We 
believe,  however,  that  its  value  is  becoming  apparent,  and 
that  potatoes  will  be  produced  to  a  much  greater  extent 
than  hitherto.  Reserving  some  remarks  of  our  own  to  a 
future  number,  we  insert  the  methods  of  cultivation,  em- 
ployed by  eminent  cultivators. 

SPURRIER'S  METHOD  OF  CULTIVATION. — "  Be  careful,"  says 
he,  "  to  procure  some  good  sets ;  that  is,  to  pick  a  quantity 
of  the  best  kind  of  potatoes  perfectly  sound  and  of  a  toler- 
ably large  size ;  these  are  to  be  prepared  for  planting  by 
cutting  each  root  into  two,  three  or  more  pieces,  minding 
particularly  that  each  piece  be  furnished  with  at  least  one 
or  t\vo  eyes,  which  is  sufficient.  Being  thus  prepared,  ih«-y 
are  to  be  planted  in  rows  not  less  than  eighteen  inches  dis- 
tant :  if  they  are  to  be  plowed  between,  they  must  not  be 


ABOUT  FRUITS,   FLOWERS   AND  FARMING.  383 

less  than  three  feet,  and  if  four  feet  apart  the  more 
eligible. 

"  The  best  method  I  have  found  by  experience  is  to  make 
a  trench  either  with  the  spade  or  plow,  about  five  inches 
deep,  and  put  long  dung  or  straw  at  the  bottom,  laying  the 
sets  on  it  at  their  proper  distances,  which  is  from  9  to  12 
inches  apart,  covering  them  with  mold.  They  must  be  kept 
clean  from  weeds." 

MR.  KNIGHT'S  PLAN. — "  He  recommends  the  planting  of 
whole  potatoes,  and  those  only  which  are  of  fine  medium 
size — none  to  be  of  less  weight  than  four  ounces.  The 
early  sorts,  and,  indeed,  all  which  seldom  attain  a  greater 
height  than  two  feet,  are  to  be  planted  about  four  or  five 
inches  apart  in  the  rows,  centre  from  centre,  the  crown  ends 
upward,  the  rows  to  be  from  2  feet  6  inches  to  3  feet 
asunder.  The  late  potatoes,  which  produce  a  haulm  above 
3  feet  in  height,  are  to  be  planted  5  or  6  inches  apart,  centre 
from  centre,  in  rows  4  or  5  feet  asunder.  The  potatoes  to 
point  north  and  south  and  to  be  well  manured." 

MACKENZIE'S  PLAN. — "  Work  the  ground  until  it  is  com- 
pletely reduced  and  free  from  root  weeds.  Three  plowings, 
with  frequent  harrowings  and  rollings,  are  necessary  in  both 
cases,  before  the  land  is  in  a  suitable  condition.  When  this 
is  accomplished,  form  the  drills ;  place  the  manure  in  the 
drills,  plant  above  it,  reverse  the  drills  for  covering  it  and 
the  seed,  then  harrow  the  drills  in  length. 

"  It  is  not  advantageous  to  cut  the  seed  into  small  slips ; 
for  the  strength  of  the  stem  at  the  outset  depends  in  direct 
proportion  to  the  vigor  and  power  of  the  seed-plant.  The 
seed-plant,  therefore,  ought  to  be  large,  rarely  smaller  than 
the  fourth  part  of  the  potato ;  and  if  the  seed  is  of  small 
size,  one  half  of  the  potato  may  be  profitably  used.  At  all 
I'Vi-iits,  rather  err  in  giving  over  large  seed  than  in  making 
it  too  small ;  because,  by  the  first  error,  no  great  loss  can 
ever  be  sustained;  whereas,  by  the  other,  a  feeble  and  late 
crop  may  be  the  consequence.  When  the  seed  is  properly 


88 1  PLAIN   AND  PLEASANT  TALK 

cut,  it  requires  from  ten  to  twelve  hundred  weight  of  pota- 
toes, from  12i  to  15  bushels,  where  the  rows  are  at  27  inches 
distance ;  but  this  generally  depends  greatly  upon  the  size 
of  the  potatoes  used;  if  they  are  large  a  greater  weight 
may  be  required ;  but  the  extra  quality  will  be  abundantly 
repaid  by  the  superiority  of  the  crop,  which  large  seed 
usually  produces.  Plant  early  in  May." 

BABNUM'S  PLAN. — "Plow  deep  and  pulverize  well  by 
thoroughly  harrowing ;  manure  with  compost,  decomposed 
vegetables  or  barnyard  manure;  the  latter  preferable. 
When  coarse  or  raw  manure  is  used  it  must  be  spread  and 
plowed  in  immediately.  Stiff  clay  soil  should  always  be 
plowed  the  fall  previous.  Lay  your  land  in  drills  27  inches 
apart,  with  a  small  plow,  calculated  for  turning  a  deep,  nar- 
row furrow  running  north  and  south ;  lay  on  the  bottom  of 
the  drills  2  inches  of  well-rotted  barnyard  manure,  or  its 
equivalent,  then  drop  your  potatoes,  if  of  the  common  size, 
or  what  is  more  important,  if  they  retain  the  usual  quan- 
tity of  eyes — if  more,  they  should  be  cut  to  prevent  too 
many  stalks  shooting  up  together :  put  a  single  potato  in 
the  drills  or  trenches  10  inches  apart,  the  first  should  remain 
uncovered  until  the  second  one  is  deposited,  to  place  them 
diagonally  in  the  drills,  which  will  afford  more  space 
between  the  potatoes  one  way,  than  if  laid  at  right  angles 
in  the  rows.  The  covering  may  be  performed  with  a  hoe, 
first  hauling  in  the  furrow  raised  on  each  side  the  drill, 
then  carefully  take  from  the  centre  of  the  space  the  soil  to 
finish  the  covering  to  the  depth  of  3i  or  4  inches ;  by  taking 
the  earth  from  the  centre  of  the  space  on  either  side  to  the 
width  of  3  inches,  it  will  leave  a  drain  of  6  inches  in  the 
centre  of  the  space  and  a  hill  of  14  inches  in  width  gently 
descending  from  the  drill  to  the  drain,  the  width  and  depth 
of  the  drill  will  be  sufficient  to  protect  the  plant  against  any 
injurious  effects  of  a  scorching  sun  or  drenching  rain.  The 
drains  in  the  centre  will  at  all  tunes  be  found  sufficient  to 
pass  off  the  surplus  water. 


ABOUT  FRUITS,   FLOWERS   AND   FARMING.  385 

"  When  the  plant  makes  its  appearance  above  the  surface, 
the  following  mixture  maybe  used:  for  each  acre  take  1 
bushel  of  plaster  and  2  bushels  of  good  ashes,  and  sow  it 
broadcast  as  even  as  possible ;  a  moist  day  is  preferable  for 
this  operation — for  want  of  it,  a  still  evening  will  do. 

"  The  operation  of  hilling  should  be  performed  once  and 
once  only  during  the  season ;  if  repeated  after  the  potatoe 
is  formed  it  will  cause  young  shoots  to  spring  up,  which 
retards  the  growth  of  the  potatoe  and  diminishes  its  size. 
If  weeds  spring  up  at  any  tune  they  should  be  kept  down 
by  the  hand  or  hoe,  which  can  be  done  without  disturbing 
the  growth  of  the  stalk. 

"My  manner  of  hoeing  or  hilling  is  not  to  haul  in  the 
earth  from  the  space  between  the  hills  or  rows,  but  to  bring 
on  fresh  earth  sufficient  to  raise  the  hill  around  the  plant  14 
or  2  inches ;  in  a  wet  season  the  lesser  quantity  will  be  suffi- 
cient, in  a  dry  one  the  larger  will  not  be  found  too  much. 
The  substance  for  this  purpose  may  consist  of  the  scrapings 
of  ditches  or  filthy  streets,  or  the  earth  from  a  barnyard  that 
requires  levelling :  where  convenient,  it  may  be  taken  from 
swamps,  marshes,  the  beds  and  banks  of  rivers  or  small 
sluggish  streams  at  low  water.  If  planted  on  a  clay  soil, 
fresh  loam  taken  at  any  depth  from  the  surface,  even  if  it 
partakes  largely  of  fine  sand,  will  be  found  an  excellent  top- 
dressing.  If  planted  on  a  loamy  soil,  the  earth  taken  from 
clay  pits,  clay  or  slaty  soil  will  answer  a  valuable  purpose ; 
in  fact,  there  are  but  few  farms  in  the  country  but  what 
may  be  furnished  with  some  suitable  substance  for  top- 
dressing,  if  sought  for.  The  hoeing  and  hilling  may  be  per- 
formed with  facility  by  the  aid  of  a  horse  and  cart,  the 
horse  travelling  in  the  centre  of  a  space  between  the 
drills,  t"he  cart-wheels  occupying  the  two  adjoining  ones, 
thereby  avoiding  any  disturbance  or  injury  to  the  growing 
plants." 

Mr.  "Bamum's  method  has  attracted  great  attention,  from 
the  fact  that  he  actually  raised  from  1,000  to  1,500  bushels 

17 


386  PLAIN    AND   PLEASANT  TALK 

of  potatoes  to  the  iCW  !  When  this  was  first  published  it 
was  received  with  irivat  incredulity;  calls  \\  ere  made  for 
the  method  of  culti\  ation,  which  dre\v  forth  an  elaborate 
article'  from  .Mr.  B.,  of  which  the  above  is  but  a  morsel.  It 
afterward  was  stated,  and  the  most  authentic  and  unques- 
tionable evidence  adduced  in  proof,  that  Mr.  Banmm 
raised,  upon  experiment,  at  the  rate  of  more  than  3,000 
bushels  to  the  acre.  Now,  although  the  labor  and  the  great 
amount  of  seed  required  would  prevent  the  cultivation  of 
many  acres  of  land  thus,  yet  it  is  worth  a  trial  in  a  small 
way;  and  if  one  acre  can  be  made  to  produce  1,000 
bushels,  it  will  be  as  much  as  is  usually  dug  from  five  acres ; 
and  it  is  questionable  whether  the  labor  and  seed  for  live 
acres  are  not  more  than  that  required  by  Mr.  B.'s  method 
for  one. 

MB.  A.  ROBINSON'S  PLAN. — He  says:  "If  I  plant  low 
ground,  I  plow  my  ground  in  beds  in  a  different  direction  for 
the  water  to  drain  off,  then  harrow  lengthwise  of  the  fur- 
rows and  small  lands ;  having  a  number  of  them,  side  and 
side,  I  take  a  light,  sharp  horse-harrow,  and  harrow  cross- 
wise of  the  beds,  which  pulverizes  the  ground  and  fits  it 
well  for  planting,  leaving  a  small  space  between  the  rows, 
which  answers  for  two  purposes,  one  for  a  guide  for  the 
rows  for  dropping :  this  is  done  by  dropping  in  the  middle 
of  the  tracks  of  the  harrow,  which  is  easily  and  correctly 
performed,  by  any  small  boy.  It  also  serves  completely  to 
fill  up  all  cracks  or  holes,  the  seed  lying  fair  and  easy.  I 
then  drop  my  manure  directly  over  the  seed  potatoes,  ana 
when  covered  up,  the  seed  is  safe  from  inundation,  by 
being  some  inches  above  the  surrounding  surface :  the  seed 
lies  warm  under  this  manure,  the  rains  drain  into  the  mid- 
dle furrows ;  I  plant  three  feet  distance ;  it  takes  the  most 
of  the  surface  that  is  pulverized  to  cover  the  potatoes,  and 
by  the  time  they  are  twice  well  hoed,  my  hills  are  as  I  want 
them  to  be.  They  naturally  rise  high  above  the  surface  in 
the  form  of  a  sugar-loaf:  this  hill  is  to  turn  off  heavy  rains, 


ABOUT  FRUITS,    FLOWERS   AND   FARMING.  387 

and  it  naturally  keeps  the  potatoes  from  being  too  moist, 
and  they  are  often  injured  thereby.  I  have  found  that 
three  feet  i-.-u-h  way  is  the  most  proper  distance  to  insure  a 
good  crop;  I  plant  three  common  sized  potatoes  in  the 
hill ;  it  is  no  use  to  cut  them :  if  cut  small,  the  vines  come 
up  small  and  weak,  grow  fast  and  fall  down." 

The  following  method  we  take  from  an  able  writer  in  the 
Louisville  Journal,  signing  himself  "  Grazier :" 

"  The  ground  selected  for  potatoes  should  be  dry,  where 
no  surface-water  will  rest.  It  .should  be  rich ;  if  not  natur- 
ally so,  it  must  be  made  so  by  a  sufficient  quantity  of  good 
manure.  It  should  be  plowed  twice,  and  at  least  twelve 
inches  deep.  After  the  first  plowing,  it  should  be  har- 
rowed and  cross  harrowed;  and  after  the  second  plowing, 
harrowed  again,  and  if  not  very  friable  and  free  from  clods 
it  should  then  be  rolled.  The  mold  cannot  be  too  fine,  as 
on  the  depth  of  the  plowing,  and  fineness  of  the  earth, 
depend  the  retention  of  that  moisture  so  indispensable  to 
the  health  and  maturing  of  all  bulbous  roots  in  particular. 
The  ground  thus  prepared,  should  then  be  opened  off  in 
drill*)  three  feet  from  the  centre  of  one  to  the  centre  of  the 
other,  and,  if  practicable,  running  north  and  south.  When 
opened,  if  manure  is  to  be  applied,  it  must  then  be  hauled 
in  carts ;  the  horse  going  down  between  the  drills,  the  bed 
of  the  cart  will  cover  two  drills,  where  the  manure  can  be 
pulled  out  at  intervals,  in  quantity  sufficient,  not  only  for 
the  two  drills  described,  but  for  one  on  each  side  in  addi- 
tion ;  all  of  which  one  hand,  following  with  a  fork,  can 
easily  distribute  and  spread  in  the  four  drills. 

"  This  done,  the  ground  is  ready  for  the  seed.  I  shall 
first  describe  the  whole  of  the  cultivation  and  harvesting 
necessary,  and  then  speak  of  the  seed  and  its  preparation 
separately.  The  seed  should  be  dropped  in  the  manure, 
twelve  inches  apart,  and  as  quickly  as  a  drill  is  planted,  the 
plow  should  follow  and  cover  it  in.  The  double  mold- 
board  plow,  which  is  the  proper  implement  for  the  business, 


388  PLAIN   AND  PLEASANT  TALK 

will  cover  two  drills  by  going  once  up  and  once  down  the 
field;  if  the  single  mold-board  plow  is  used,  it  will  of 
course  cover  l»m  one  drill  by  the  same  operation.  When 
your  ground  is  thus  gone  over,  your  land  will  all  be  in  high 
drills,  an<l  can  rest  so  for  about  one  week,  when  you  must 
take  a  two-horse  harrow,  and  harrow  your  drills  across, 
leaving  your  field  as  level  as  before  your  drills  were  opened. 
There  is  no  danger,  as  some  would  suppose,  of  disturbing 
your  seed. 

"  In  a  few  days,  when  you  can  see  your  plants  distinctly 
above  ground,  from  one  end  of  your  drills  to  the  other,  you 
must  take  your  one-horse  plow,  and  go  up  and  down  each 
drill,  running  the  land  side  of  your  plow  as  close  to  the 
plant  on  each  side  as  you  safely  can,  throwing  the  earth 
away  from  it,  which  operation  will  leave  your  field  in  raised 
drills  between  your  plants.  In  a  few  days  after  this  you 
take  your  double  mold-board  plow,  and  go  down  the  centre 
of  the  blank  drills,  covering  all1  your  plants  nearly  out  of 
sight,  observing  as  you  go  along  that  the  weight  of  earth  is 
thrown  against,  and  not  on,  the  plants.  Then,  in  some 
days  after,  when  your  plants  are  well  over  the  top  of  your 
drills,  take  your  scuffle,  an  implement  not  unlike  your  cul- 
tivator in  this  country,  and  for  which  the  cultivator  can  be 
substituted,  and  go  over  your  whole  field  between  the  drills, 
giving  the  earth  a  good  stirring,  and  not  be  afraid  of 
encroaching  a  little  at  each  side  on  the  drill.  At  this  stage, 
a  boy  should  follow  the  scuffle,  and  pull  up  any  weeds  that 
appear  on  the  top  or  sides  of  the  drills.  In  a  few  days 
after  this,  when  your  plants  are  strong  and  well  up,  you  go 
down  the  centre  between  the  drills,  with  your  double  mold- 
board  plow,  the  wings  well  apart,  and  throw  the  earth  well 
up  to  the  plants.  This  must  sometimes  finish  the  cultiva- 
tion, if  the  vines  have  spread  and  are  closed  too  much,  but 
generally  the  vines  will  allow  it,  and  the  crop  be  much 
benefited  by  one  more  scuffling ;  but  this  time  take  par- 
ticular care  not  to  disturb  the  drill  at  the  bottom,  as  the 


ABOUT  FRUITS,   FLOWERS   AXD  FARMING.  389 

bulbs  arc  now  forming  and  spreading;  then  gently  run 
your  double  mold-board  plow  through  the  whole  field  again, 
narrowing  the  wings  of  it,  which  will  have  the  effect  of 
adding  the  earth,  and  compressing  it  to  the  bottom  of  the 
drill,  where  the  bulbs  are  forming,  rather  than  throwing  it 
up  to  the  stalk  at  top,  where  there  is  sufficient  already. 
This  finishes  the  cultivation. 

"  To  prepare  the  seed  you  must  select  well-shaped,  even 
potatoes,  not  too  small  nor  too  large.  Cut  them,  leaving  one 
good  eye  at  least  to  every  set ;  prepare  them  from  two  to 
three  weeks  at  least,  before  you  plant ;  and  each  day,  as  you 
cut,  roll  your  sets  in  pulverized  lime,  and  spread  them  on 
the  barn  floor  to  dry :  when  dry,  heap  them  in  a  corner  till 
taken  out  to  plant.  If  this  plan  is  pursued,  and  the  ground 
selected  and  prepared  as  directed,  you  may  rest  satisfied 
that  so  sure  as  the  laws  of  nature  are  invariable,  and  that 
like  effects  follow  like  causes,  as  sure  will  a  good  and  sound 
crop  of  potatoes  be  produced  in  this  climate  with  no  vari- 
ation in  the  result,  except  what  may  be  occasioned  by  the 
vicissitudes  of  the  season. 

"  Ten  tons  of  potatoes,  two  thousand  two  hundred  and 
forty  pounds  to  the  ton,  is  considered  a  fair  crop  in  Ire- 
land. Twelve  tons  an  extra  one — equal  to  three  hundred 
and  seventy  bushels  the  first,  and  four  hundred  and  forty- 
four  bushels  the  second,  allowing  sixty  pounds  to  the 
bushel,  which  I  have  found  to  be  about  the  average  weight 
of  a  bushel  here.  I  have  grown  four  crops  of  potatoes  in 
this  country,  in  two  different  situations  and  latitudes  (six 
aores  the  smallest  quantity  cultivated  any  season).  Each 
crop  was  treated  in  every  particular  as  here  described, 
and  in  three  instances  out  of  the  four,  I  got  a  little  over 
four  hundred  measured  bushels  to  the  acre.  The  fourth 
crop  was  only  about  three  hundred  and  fifty  bushels  to  the 
acre,  caused  by  the  peculiarity  of  the  season,  which  pro- 
duced an  almost  entire  failure  with  my  neighbors,  under 
their  management." 


390  PLAIN   AND   PLEASANT  TALK 


POTTING    GARDEN    PLANTS    FOR    WINTER    USE. 

HOSES,  geraniums,  chrysanthemums,  Cape  jasmins,  etc., 
which  have  been  put  into  the  garden  borders,  should 
be  prepared  for  removal  to  the  parlor  for  winter,  before 
frost,  else  the  plants  will  not  be  established  in  the  pots 
when  removed  to  the  parlor,  and  will  thrive  but  poorly. 

Select  the  pot  which  is  to  receive  each  plant,  draw  a  cir- 
cle «about  the  plant  of  the  size  of  the  pot,  then  thrust  a 
sharp  spade  down  so  as  to  cut  all  the  roots  at  the  line  of  the 
circle  described.  Let  the  plant  remain,  watering  it  tho- 
rouglily  y  and  if  it  droops,  let  it  be  sheltered  from  the  sun. 
In  a  few  days  new  roots  will  begin  to  form  within  the  ball 
of  earth  described  by  the  circle,  and  in  three  or  four  weeks 
that  ball  may  be  carefully  lifted,  placed  in  the  pot  for  wlm-h 
it  was  measured,  and  it  will  go  on  growing  as  if  nothing 
had  happened  to  it.  If  one  waits  till  frost,  then  digs  up  the 
plant  without  a  previous  preparation  of  its  roots,  it  will  of- 
tentimes not  recover  from  the  violence  during  the  winter. 
But  by  the  method  suggested  above,  roses,  etc.,  will  go  on 
growing  and  blooming  through  the  winter. 


THERE  are  many  who  suppose  it  necessary  to  leave  the 
second  growth  of  grass  undisturbed,  to  rot  on  the  ground, 
in  order  to  preserve  the  fertility  of  old  meadows  in  grass 
where  top  dressing  with  manure  is  not  resorted  to.  But 
such  management  is  oftentimes  extremely  hurtful,  and  the 
injury  is  proportioned  to  the  amount  left  untrodden  an. I 
unfed.  If  the  amount  left  standing,  or  laying  loose  upon 
the  surface,  be  considerable,  it  makes  a  harbor  for  mice, 
which  will,  under  cover  of  the  old  grass,  intersect  the  sur- 
face of  the  land  with  paths  innumerable,  from  which  they 
cut  all  the  grass  that  comes  in  their  way. 


ABOUT  FRUITS,   FLO  WEES   AND  FARMING  391 


MARY    HOWITTS    USE    OF     FLOWERS. 

1 1 1:1:  i:  is  another  of  those  beautiful  gems  which  can  never 
be  brought  to  the  light  too  often.  And  when  more  appro- 
priately than  in  the  middle  of  our  spring-time,  while  burst- 
ing buds  and  fragrant  blossoms  are  delighting  every 
sense  ? 

God  might  have  made  the  earth  bring  forth 

Enough  for  great  and  small,  f 

The  oak-tree  and  the  cedar-tree, 
Without  a  flower  at  all. 

Wo  might  have  had  enough,  enough 

For  every  want  of  ours, 
For  luxury,  medicine,  and  toil, 

And  yet  have  had  no  flowers. 

The  ore  within  the  mountain  mine 
r       Requireth  none  to  grow, 
Nor  does  it  need  the  lotus  flower 
To  make  the  river  flow. 

The  clouds  might  give  abundant  rain, 

The  nightly  dews  might  fall, 
And  the  herb  that  keepeth  life  in  man, 

Might  yet  have  drunk  them  all. 

Then  wherefore,  wherefore  were  they  made 

And  dyed  with  rainbow  light, 
All  fashioned  with  supremest  grace, 

Upspringing  day  and  night? 

Springing  in  valleys  green  and  low, 

And  on  the  mountains  high, 
And  in  the  silent  wilderness, 

Where  no  man  passeth  by? 

Our  outward  life  requires  them  not, 

Then  wherefore  had  they  birth? 
To  minister  delight  to  man — 

To  beautify  the  earth. 


392  PLAIN   AND   PLEASANT  TALK 

To  comfort  man,  to  whisper  hope 
Whonc'cr  his  faith  is  dim, 

For  whoso  careth  for  the  flowers, 
Will  much  more  care  for  Him. 


WHAT  ARE  FLOWERS  GOOD  FOR  P 

"  I  HAVE  said  and  written  a  great  deal  to  my  countrymen 
about  the  cultivation  of  flowers,  ornamental  gardening,  and 
rural  embellishments ;  and  I  would  read  them  a  homily  on 
the  subject  every  day  of  every  remaining  year  of  my  life, 
if  I  thought  it  would  induce  them  to  make  this  a  matter  of 
particular  attention  and  care.  When  a  man  asks  me,  what 
is  the  use  of  shrubs  and  flowers,  my  first  impulse  is  always, 
to  look  under  his  hat  and  see  the  length  of  his  ears.  I  am 
heartily  sick  of  measuring  everything  by  a  standard  of 
mere  utility  and  profit ;  and  as  heartily  do  I  pity  the  man, 
who  can  see  no  good  in  life  but  in  the  pecuniary  gam,  or 
in  the  mere  animal  indulgences  of  eating  and  drinking." — 
Colmarts  Agricultural  Tour. 

We  protest  against  the  sauciness  of  the  italicized  line. 
Mr.  Colman  never  feels  any  such  impulse ;  and  if  he  does, 
he  ought  to  suspect  his  own  ears.  Nothing  is  more  prepos- 
terous than  interflagellations  among  men  on  the  matter  of 
likes  and  dislikes.  Every  man  selects  his  ruling  passion, 
and  scoffs  at  such  as  do  not  grow  enthusiastic  with  him.  A 
market  gardener  rails  at  a  florist  for  fol-de-rol  trifles  ;  ami 
the  florist  looks  at  the  length  of  the  fellow's  ears  who  has 
nothing  but  turnips,  onions,  and  cabages;  while  a  big. 
Miami  farmer,  who  puts  in  his  five-hundred-acre  corn-patch, 
by  way  of  summer  amusement,  regards  both  as  small  allairs. 
We  find  no  fault  with  those  who  possess  a  super-ardent 
enthusiasm  for  flowers ;  but  when  they  throw  it  in  other 
people's  faces,  and  call  them  brutes  and  asses,  for  not  liking 
pretty  flowers,  we  think  the  thing  has  been  carried  quite  far 
enough.  We  love  good  manners  along  with  pretty  flowers. 


ABOUT  FRUITS,    FLOWERS   AND   FARMING.  393 


THE    BLIGHT    IN    THE    PEAR-TREE.* 
ITS   CAUSE  AND   A   REMEDY   FOR   IT. 

TIIE  year  1844  will  long  be  remembered  for  the  exten- 
sive ravages  of  that  disease  hitherto  denominated  fire-blight. 
Beginning  at  the  Atlantic  coast,  we  have  heard  of  it  in 
Pennsylvania,  Maryland,  Virginia,  Ohio,  Kentucky,  Indi- 
ana, and  as  far  as  Tennessee  ;  and  it  is  probable  that  if  has 
been  felt  in  every  fruit-growing  State  in  the  Union  where 
the  season  of  1843  was  the  same  as  that  west  of  the  Alle- 
ghany  range,  namely,  cold  in  spring,  dry  throughout  the 
summer,  and  a  wet  and  warm  fall,  with  early  and  sudden 
winter. 

In  Indiana  and  Ohio  the  blight  has  prevailed  to  such  an 
extent  as  to  spread  dismay  among  cultivators ;  destroying 
entire  collections — taking  half  the  trees  in  large  orchards — 
affecting  both  young  and  old  trees,  whether  grafted  or 
Beedings  in  soils  of  every  kind.  Many  have  seen  the  labor 
and  fond  hope  of  years  cut  off,  in  one  season,  by  an  invisible 
destroyer,  against  which  none  could  guard ;  because,  in  the 
conflicting  opinions,  none  were  certain  whether  the  disease 
was  atmospheric,  insect  or  chemical. 

I  shall  now  proceed  to  describe  tbat  blight  known  in  the 
western  States  (without  pretending  to  identify  it  with  the 
blight  known  in  New  York  and  New  England),  to  examine 
the  theories  proposed  for  its  causation,  and  to  present  what 
now  seems  to  me  the  true  cause. 

I.  DESCRIPTION. — Although  the  signs  of  it,  as  will  appear 
in  the  sequel,  may  be  detected  long  before  the  leaves  put 
out  in  the  spring,  yet  its  full  effects  do  not  begin  to  appear 
until  May,  or  if  the  spring  be  backward,  until  June.  On 
the  wood  of  the  last  year  will  be  found  a  point  where  the 

*  Read  before  the  Indiana  Horticultural  Society,  and  communicated  by 
Mr.  Becchcr  to  Hovey's  Magazine  of  Horticulture,  December,  1844. 


394  ri.UN"    AND   PLEASANT  TALK 

bark  is  cither  dead  and  dry,  or  else  at  the  same  point  the 
bark  will  be  puffed,  softened,  or  sappy  with  thickened  sap 
— these  two  appearances  indicating  only  different  degrees 
of  the  same  blight.  Wherever  the  bark  is  dead  and  dry, 
the  limb  will  flourish  above  it,  make  new  wood,  ripen  its 
fru^t,  but  perish  the  ensuing  winter.  In  the  other  ca 
soon  as  the  circulation  of  the  sap  becomes  active,  the  point 
described  shows  signs  of  disease,  the  leaf  turns  to  a  darker 
brown  than  is  natural  to  its  ordinary  decay,  being  nearly 
black,  and  the  wood  perishes. 

The  disease,  at  first,  blights  the  terminal  portions  of  the 
branch;  but  the  affection  spreads  gradually  downward, 
and  sometimes  affects  the  whole  trunk.  The  time  from  the 
first  appearance  of  the  blight  to  that  in  which  any  affected 
part  dies,  is  various ;  sometimes  two  or  three  weeks — some- 
times a  day  only ;  and  sometimes,  but  rarely,  even  a  few 
hours  consummate  the  disease. 

On  dissecting  the  branch,  the  wood  is  of  a  dirty,  brown- 
ish, yellow  color ;  the  sap  thick  and  unctuous,  of  a  sour 
disagreeable  odor,  like  that  of  a  fermented  watermelon,  on 
the  tops  of  potato  vines  after  they  have  been  frosted.  In 
still,  moist  days,  where  the  blight  is  extensive  in  an  orchard, 
this  odor  fills  the  air,  and  is  disagreeably  perceptible  at 
some  distance  from  the  trees. 

Sometimes  the  bark  bursts,  the  sap  exudes,  and  runs 
down,  turning  black;  and  its  acridity  will  destroy  vegeta- 
tion on  which  it  may  drop,  and  shoots,  at  a  distance  from 
the  trunk,  upon  which  the  rain  washes  this  ichor,  will  soon 
perish.  When  we  come  to  treat  of  the  cause  of  this  dis- 
ease, it  will  be  important  to  remember  this  malignancy  of 
the.  fluids. 

We  are  carefully  to  distinguish  these  appearances,  pecu- 
liar to  what  I  suppose  ought  to  be  called  icinter-blight,  from 
another  and  a  summer-blight.  In  this  last,  the  leaf  is  affected 
at  first  in  spots;  gradually  the  whole  leaf  turns  russel 
color  and  drops.  Along  the  wood  may  be  seen  the  liar 


ABOUT  FRUITS,    FLOWERS   AND   FARMING.  395 

cned  trail  as  of  a  slimy  insect,  of  an  ash  color.  The  wood 
sullVrs  very  little  by  this  summer-blight,  and  sometimes 
none.  The  winter-blight  is  found  on  almost  all  kinds  of 
trees.  This  summer  it  has  affected  the  apple,  the  pear,  the 
peach,  the  quince,  the  English  hawthorn,  privet,  black 
birch,  Spanish  chestnut,  elder,  and  calycanthus.  I  enume- 
rate the  most  of  these  kinds  on  the  authority  of  J.  H. 
James,  of  Urbana,  Ohio,  and  C.  W.  Elliott,  of  Cincinnati, 
having  observed  it  myself  only  on  fruit-trees. 

II.  THEORIES. — A  variety  of  theories  exist  as  to  the 
causes  of  this  disease.  Some  are  mere  imaginations ;  some 
are  only  ingenious ;  and  some  so  near  to  what  I  suppose  to 
be  the  truth,  that  it  is  hardly  possible  to  imagine  how  the 
discovery  was  not  made. 

The  injury  is  done  in  the  fall,  but  is  not  seen  till  spring 
or  summer,  or  even  the  next  fall.  Thus,  six  months  or  a 
year  intervene  between  the  cause  and  the  effect — a  sufficient 
reason  for  the  difficulty  of  detecting  the  origin  of  the  evil. 

1.  Some  have  alleged  that  the  rays  of  the  sun,  passing 
through  vapors  which  arise  about  the  trees,  concentrate 
upon  the  branches,  and  destroy  them  by  the  literal  energy 
of  fire.    Were  this  true,  the  young  and  tender  shoots  would 
suffer  first  and  most ;  all  pear-trees  would  suffer  alike  ;  all 
moist  and  hot  summers  would  be  affected  with  blight ;  her- 
baceous  plants  would   suffer   more   than  ligneous :  all  of 
which  results  are  contrary  to  facts. 

2.  Some  have  supposed  the  soil  to  contain  deleterious 
substances,  or  to  be  wanting  in   properties  necessary  to 
health.     But  in  either  case  such  a  cause  of  the  blight  ap- 
pears untrue,  when  we  consider  that  trees  suffer  in  all  soils, 
rich  or  poor ;  that,  in  the  same  soil,  one  tree  is  blighted 
and  the  next  tree  escapes ;  that  they  will  flourish  for  twenty 
years  and  then  blight ;  that  a  tree  partially  diseased  recov- 
ers, and  thrives  for  ten  or  more  years  without  recurrence  of 
blight. 

3.  It  has  been  attributed  to  violent  and  sudden  changes 


396  .PLAIN  A\I>  ri  i:\s\\r   TALK 

of  temperature  in  the  :iir  ami  of  moisture  in  the  earth;  to 
sudden  change  from  sward  to  high  tillage  ;  and  the  result  is 
stated  to  be  an  "overplus''  of  sap,  or  a  "surfeit."  All 
these  causes  occur  every  year;  but  the  blight  does  not 
every  year  follow  them.  Changes  of  temperature,  and  vio- 
lent changes  in  the  condition  of  the  soil,  may  be  allied  with 
the  true  cause.  But  when  only  these  things  exist,  no  blight 
follows. 

4.  Others  have  attributed  the  disease  to  over-stimulation 
by  high  manuring,  or  constant  tillage ;  and  it  has  been  said 
that  covering  the  roots  with  stones  and  rubbish,  or  lay- 
ing the  orchard  down  to  grass,  would  prevent  the  evil. 
Facts  warrant  no  such  conclusions.     Pear-trees  in  Gibson 
County,  Indiana,   on  a  clay  soil,  with  blue  slaty  subsoil, 
were  affected  this  year  more  severely  than  any  of  which 
we  have  heard.     Pears  in  southern  parts  of  this  State,  on 
red  clay,  where  the  ground  had  long  been  neglected,  suf- 
fered as  much  as  along  the  rich  bottom  lands  of  the  Wa- 
bash  about  Vincennes.     If  there  was  any  difference  it  was 
in  favor  of  the  richest  land.     About  Mooresville,  Morgan 
County,  Indiana,  pears  have  been  generally  affected,  and 
those  in  grass  lands  as  much  as  those  in  open  soils.     Aside 
from  these  facts,  it  is  well  known  that  pear-trees  do  not 
blight  in  those  seasons  when  they  make  the  rankest  growth 
more  than  in  others.     They  will  thrive  rampantly  for  years, 
no  evil    arising  from  their  luxuriance,  and  then  suddenly 
die  of  blight. 

5.  It  has  been  supposed  by  a  few  to  be  the  effect  of  aye, 
the  disease  beginning  on  old  varieties,  and  propagated  upon 
new  varieties  by  contagion.     Were  this  the  true  cause,  we 
should  expect  it  to  be  most  frequently  developed  in  those 
pear  regions  where  old  varieties  most  abound.     But  this 
disease  seems  to  be  so  little  known  in  England,  that  Lou. 
don,  in  his  elaborate  Encyclopedia  of  Gardening,  does  not 
even  mention  it.     Mr.  Manning's  statement  will  be  given 
further  on,  to  the  same  purport. 


ABOUT  FRUITS,    FLOWERS   AND   FARMING.  397 

6.  Insect  theory :  The  confidence  with  which  eastern 
cultivators  pronounce  the  cause  to  be  an  insect,  has  in  part 
served  to  cover  up  singular  discrepancies  in  the  separate 
statements  in  respect  to  the  ravages,  and  even  the  species 
of  this  destroyer.  The  Genesee  Farmer  of  July,  1843, 
*'  the  cause  of  the  disease  was  for  many  years  a  mat- 
ter of  dispute,  and  is  so  still  by  some  persons ;  but  the  ma- 
jority are  now  fully  convinced  that  it  is  the  work  of  an 
insect  (scolytus  pyri).  T.  W.  Harris,  in  his  work  on  insects, 
speaks  of  the  minuteness  and  obscure  habits  of  this  insect, 
as  "  reasons  why  it  has  eluded  the  researches  of  those  per- 
sons who  disbelieve  in  its  existence  as  the  cause  of  the 
blasting  of  the  limbs  of  the  pear-tree."  Dr.  Harris  evi- 
dently supposed,  until  so  late  as  1843,  that  this  insect  in- 
fested only  the  pear-tree ;  for  he  says,  "  the  discovery  of 
the  blight-beetle  in  the  limbs  of  the  apple-tree,  is  a  new 
fact  in  natural  history ;  but  it  is  easily  accounted  for,  be- 
cause this  tree  belongs  not  only  to  the  same  natural  group, 
but  also  to  the  same  genus  as  the  pear-tree.  It  is  not, 
therefore,  surprising,  that  both  the  pear  and  the  apple-tree 
should  occasionally  be  attacked  by  the  same  hisect."  [See 
an  article  in  the  Massachusetts  Ploughman,  summer  of 
1843,  quoted  in  Genesee  Farmer,  July,  1843.] 

This  insect  is  said  to  eat  through  the  alburnum,  the  hard 
wood,  and  even  a  part  of  the  pith,  and  to  destroy  the 
branch  by  separation  of  part  from  part,  as  a  saw  would. 
On  these  facts,  which  there  is  no  room  to  question,  we 
make  two  remarks. 

1st.  That  the  blight  thus  produced  is  limited,  and  proba- 
bly sectional  or  local.  No  account  has  met  my  eye  which 
leads  me  to  suppose  that  any  considerable  injury  has  been 
done  by  it.  Mr.  Manning,  of  Salem.  Mass.,  in  the  second 
edition  of  his  "  Book  of  Flowers,"  states  that  he  has  never 
"  had  any  trees  affected  by  it" — the  blight.  Yet  his  garden 
and  nursery  has  existed  for  twenty  years,  and  contained 
immense  numbers  of  trees. 


398  PLAIN  AND  PLEASANT  TALK 

2d.  It  is  very  plain  that  neither  Mr.  Lowell,  originally, 
nor  Dr.  Harris,  nor  any  who  describe  the  blight  as  caused 
by  the  blight-beetle,  had  any  notion  of  that  disease  which 
passes  by  the  same  name  in  the  middle  and  western  States. 
The  blight  of  the  scolytus  pyri  is  a  mere  girdling  of  the 
branches — a  mechanical  separation  of  parts ;  and  no  men- 
tion is  made  of  the  most  striking  facts  incident  to  the  great 
blight — the  viscid  unctuous  sap ;  the  bursting  of  the  bark, 
through  which  it  issues;  and  its  poisonous  effects  on  the 
young  shoots  upon  which  it  drops. 

We  do  not  doubt  the  insect-blight ;  but  we  are  sure  that  it  is 
not  our  blight.  We  feel  very  confident,  also,  that  this  blight, 
which  from  its  devastations  may  be  called  the  great  blight, 
has  been  felt  in  New  England,  in  connection  with  the  insect- 
blight,  and  confounded  with  it,  and  the  effects  of  two  dif- 
ferent causes  happening  to  appear  in  conjunction,  have 
been  attributed  to  one,  and  the  least  influential  cause. 
The  writer  in  Fessenden's  American  Gardener  (Mr.  Low- 
ell ?)  says  of  the  blight,  "  it  is  sometimes  so  rapid  in  its 
progress,  that  in  a  few  hours  from  its  first  appearance  the 
whole  tree  will  appear  to  be  mortally  diseased."  This  is 
not  insect-blight ;  for  did  the  blight-beetle  eat  so  suddenly 
around  the  whole  trunk  f  Now  here  is  a  striking  appear- 
ance of  the  great  blight,  confounded  with  the  minor  blight, 
as  we  think  will  appear  in  the  sequel. 

This  theory  has  stood  in  the  way  of  a  discovery  of  the 
true  cause  of  the  great  blight;  for  every  cultivator  has 
gone  in  search  of  insects ;  they  have  been  found  in  groat 
plenty,  and  in  great  variety  of  species,  and  their  harmless 
presence  accused  with  all  the  mischief  of  the  season.  A 
writer  in  the  Farmers  Advocate,  Jamestown,  N.  C.,  dis- 
cerned the  fire-blight,  and  traced  it  to  "  small,  red,  pellucid 
insects,  briskly  moving  from  place  to  place  on  the  branches." 
This  is  not  the  scolytus  pyri  of  Prof.  Peck  and  Dr.  Harris. 

Dr.  Moshcr,  of  Cincinnati,  in  a  letter  published  in  the 
Farmer  and  Gardener  for  June,  1844,  describes  a  third 


ABOUT   Fill   ITS,    IH'UKKS    AND    FARMING.  399 

insect — "very  minute  bwwn-colored  aphides,  snugly  secreted 
in  tlu-  axilla  of  every  leaf  on  several  Mnall  branches;  .  .  . 
nioM  of  them  were  busily  engaged  with  their  proboscis 
inserted  through  the  tender  cuticle  of  this  part  of  the  jwtiole 
of  the-  leaf,  feasting  upon  the  vital  juices  of  the  tree.  The 
leaves  being  thus  deprived  of  the  necessary  sap  for  nourish- 
ment and  elaboration  soon  perished, .  .  .  while  all  that  part 
of  the  branch  and  trunk  below,  dependent  upon  the  elabo- 
rated sap  of  the  deadened  leaves  above,  shrunk,  turned 
black,  and  dried  up,"  p.  261. 

Lindley,  in  his  work  on  Horticulture,  p.  42—46,  has  de- 
tailed experiments  illustrating  vegetable  perspiration,  from 
which  we  may  form  an  idea  of  the  amount  of  fluid  which 
these  "  very  minute  brown-colored  aphides  "  would  have  to 
drink.  A  sunflower,  three  and  a  half  feet  high,  perspired 
in  a  very  warm  day  thirty  ounces — nearly  two  pounds  ;  on 
another  day,  twenty  ounces.  Taking  the  old  rule,  "  a  pint 
a  pound,"  nearly  a  quart  of  fluid  was  exhaled  by  a  sun- 
flower in  twelve  hours ;  and  the  vessels  were  still  inflated 
with  a  fresh  supply  drawn  from  the  roots.  Admitting  that 
the  leaves  of  a  fruit-tree  have  a  less  current  of  sap  than  a 
sunflower  or  a  grape-vine,  yet  in  the  months  of  May  and 
June,  the  amount  of  sap  to  be  exhausted  by  these  very 
minute  brown  aphides,  would  be  so  great,  that  if  they 
drank  it  so  suddenly  as  to  cause  a  tree  to  die  in  a  day,  they 
would  surely  augment  in  bulk  enough  to  be  discovered 
without  a  lens.  If  some  one  had  accounted  for  the  low 
water  in  the  Mississippi,  in  the  summer  of  1843,  by  saying 
that  buffaloes  had  drank  up  all  the  upper  Missouri,  and  cut 
off  the  supply,  we  should  be  at  a  loss  which  most  to  pity, 
the  faith  of  the  narrator,  or  the  probable  condition  of  the 
buffaloes  after  their  feat  of  imbibition. 

But  the  most  curious  re*ults/o//o,"  these  feats  of  suction. 
The  limbs  and  trunk  bcloic  shrink  and  turn  black,  for  want 
of  thai  elaborated  sap  extracted  by  the  aphides.  And  yet 
every  year  we  perform  artificially  this  very  operation  in 


400  PLAIN  AND   PLEASANT  TALK 

ringing  or  decor ticat ion  of  branches,  for  the  purpose  of 
accelerating  maturation  or  improving  the  fruit.  Every  year 
the  saic  takes  off*  a  third,  a  half,  and  sometimes  more,  of  a 
living  tree  ;  and  the  effect  is  to  produce  new  shoots,  not 
death.  Is  an  operation  which  can  be  safely  performed  by 
man,  deadly  when  performed  by  an  insect?  Dr.  Masln-r 
did  not  detect  the  insects  without  extreme  search,  and  then 
only  in  colonies,  on  healthy  branches.  Do  whole  trees 
wither  in  a  day  by  the  mere  suction  of  such  insects  ?  Had 
they  been  supposed  to  poison  the  fluids,  the  theory  would 
be  less  exceptionable,  since  poisons  in  minute  quantities 
may  be  very  malignant. 

While  we  admit  a  limited  mischief  of  insects,  they  can 
never  be  the  cause  of  the  prevalent  blight  of  the  middle 
and  western  States — such  a  blight  as  prevailed  in  and 
around  Cincinnati  in  the  summer  of  1844 — nor  of  that 
blight  which  prevailed  in  1832.  The  blight-beetle,  after 
most  careful  search  and  dissection,  has  not  been  found,  nor 
any  trace  or  passage  of  it.  Dr.  Mosher's  insect  may  be  set 
aside  without  further  remark. 

I  think  that  further  observation  will  confirm  the  follow- 
ing conclusions : 

1.  Insects  are  frequently  found  feeding  in  various  ways 
upon  blighted  trees,  or  on  trees  which  afterward  become  so. 

2.  Trees  are  fatally  blighted  on  which  no  insects  are  dis- 
cerned feeding — neither  aphides  nor  scolytus  pyri. 

3.  Multitudes  of  trees  have  such  insects  on  them  as  are 
in  other  cases  supposed  to  cause  the  blight,  without  a  sign 
of  blight  following.     This  has  been  the  case  in  our  own 
garden. 

III.  CAUSE  OF  THE  BLIGHT. — The  Indiana  Horticultural 
Society,  early  in  the  summer  of  1844,  appointed  a  commit  tee 
to  collect  and  investigate  facts  on  the  Fire-Blight.  "While 
serving  on  this  committee,  and  inquiring  in  all  the  ]•<  Mr- 
growing  regions,  we  learned  that  Reuben  Reagan,  of  Put  nam 
County,  Ind.,  was  in  possession  of  much  information,  and 


ABOUT   FEUITS,    FLOWERS   AND   FARMING.  401 

supposed  himself  to  have  discovered  th  3  cause  of  this  evil ; 
and  to  him  we  are  indebted  for  a  first  suggestion  of  the  cause. 
Mr.  Reagan  has  for  more  than  twelve  years  past  suspected 
that  this  disease  originated  in  the  fall  previous  to  the  sum- 
mer on  which  it  declares  itself!  During  the  last  winter 
Mr.  Reagan  predicted  the  blight,  and  in  his  pear-orchards 
he  marked  the  trees  that  would  suffer,  and  pointed  to 
the  spot  which  would  be  the  seat  of  the  disease ;  and  his 
prognostications  were  strictly  verified.  After  gathering 
from  him  all  the  information  which  a  limited  time  would 
allow,  we  obtained  from  Aaron  Alldredge,  of  Indianapolis, 
a  nurseryman  of  great  skill,  and  possessed  of  careful, 
cautious  habits  of  observation,  much  corroborative  informa- 
tion ;  and  particularly  a  tabular  account  of  the  blight  for 
nine  years  past  in  his  nursery  and  orchard. 

The  spring  of  1843  opened  early,  but  cold  and  wet,  until 
the  last  of  May.  The  summer  was  both  dry  and  cool,  and 
trees  made  very  little  growth  of  new  wood.  Toward 
autumn,  however,  the  drought  ceased,  copious  rains  satu- 
rated the  ground,  and  warm  weather  started  all  trees  into 
vigorous,  though  late,  growth.  At  this  time,  while  we 
hoped  for  a  long  fall  and  a  late  winter,  on  the  contrary  we 
were  surprised  by  an  early  and  sudden  winter,  and  with 
unusual  severity  at  the  very  beginning.  In  the  West, 
much  corn  was  ruined  and  more  damaged ;  and  hundreds  of 
bushels  of  apples  were  caught  on  the  trees  and  spoiled — one 
cultivator  alone  losing  five  hundred  bushels.  Caught  in  this 
early  winter,  what  was  the  condition  of  fruit-trees  ?  They 
were  making  rapid  growth,  every  part  in  a  state  of  excite- 
ment, the  wood  unripe,  the  passages  of  ascent  and  descent 
irapleted  with  sap.  In  this  condition,  the  fluids  were  sud- 
denly frozen — the  growth  instantly  checked  ;  and  the 
whole  tree,  from  a  state  of  great  excitability,  was,  by  one 
shock,  rudely  forced  into  a  state  of  rest.  Warm  suns,  for 
a  time,  followed  severe  nights.  What  wou  d  bo  the  effect 
of  this  freezing  and  sudden  thawing  upon  the  fluids  and 


402  PLAIN  AND  PLEASANT  TALK 

their  vessels?  We  have  been  able  to- find  so  little  written 
upon  vegetable  morbid  anatomy  (probably  from  the  want 
of  access to  books),  that  we  fan  give  but  an  imperfect  account 
ot'  the  derangement  produced  upon  the  circulating  fluids 
by  congelation.  We  cannot  state  the  specific  changes  pro- 
duced by  cold  upon  the  ascending  sap,  or  on  the  cambium, 
nor  upon  the  elaborated  descending  current.  There  is  rea- 
son to  suppose  that  the  two  latter  only  suffer,  and  probably 
only  the  last.  That  freezing  and  thawing  decompose  the 
coloring  matter  of  plants  is  known  ;  but  what  other  «lrc. mi- 
position,  if  any,  is  effected,  we  know  not.  The  effect  of  con- 
gelation  upon  the  descending  sap  of  pear  and  apple-trc<  •<,  is 
to  turn  it  to  a  viscid,  unctuous  state.  It  assumes  a  reddish 
brown  color ;  becomes  black  by  exposure  to  the  air ;  is 
poisonous  to  vegetables  even  when  applied  upon  the  leaf. 
Whether  in  some  measure  this  follows  all  degrees  of  con- 
gelation, or  only  under  certain  conditions,  we  have  no  means 
of  knowing. 

The  effect  of  freezing  and  thawing  upon  the  tissues  and 
sap-vessels  is  better  known.  Congelation  is  accompanied 
with  expansion ;  the  tender  vessels  are  either  burst  or  lace- 
rated  ;  the  excitability  of  the  parts  is  impaired  or  destroyed; 
the  air  is  expelled  from  the  aeriferous  cavities,  and  forced 
into  the  passages  for  fluids ;  and  lastly,  the  tubes  for  the 
conveyance  of  fluids  are  obstructing  by  a  thickening  of  their 
sides.*  The  fruit-trees,  in  the  full  of  1843,  were  thru 
brought  into  a  morbid  state — the  sap  thickened  and  dis- 
eased ;  the  passages  lacerated,  obstructed,  and  probably,  in 
many  instances  burst.  The  sap  elaborated,  and  now  pass- 
ing down  in  an  injured  state,  would  descend  slowly,  by 
reason  of  its  inspissation,  the  torpidity  of  the  parts,  and  the 
injured  condition  of  the  vessels.  The  grosser  parts  natu- 
rally the  most  sluggish,  would  tend  to  lodge  and  gradually 
collect  at  the  junction  of  fruit-spurs,  the  forks  of  branches, 

*  Lindlcy's  Horticulture,  p.  81-82. 


ABOUT   FRUITS,    FLOWERS    AND    FARMING.  403 

or  wherever  the  condition  of  the  sap-vessels  favored  a  lodg- 
ment. In  some  cases  the  passages  are  wholly  obstructed ; 
in  others,  only  in  part. 

At  length  the  spring  approaches.  In  early  pruning,  the 
cultivator  will  find,  in  those  trees  which  will  ere  long  deve- 
lop blight,  that  the  knife  is  followed  by  an  unctuous  sap, 
and  that  the  liber  is  of  a  greenish  yellow  color.  These  will 
be  the  first  signs,  and  the  practised  eye  may  detect  them 
long  before  a  leaf  is  put  forth. 

When  the  season  is  advanced  sufficiently  to  excite  the 
tree  to  action,  the  sap  will,  as  usual,  ascend  by  the  albur- 
num, which  has  probably  been  but  little  injured  ;  the  leaf 
puts  out,  and  no  outward  sign  of  disease  appears ;  nor  will 
it  appear  until  the  leaf  prepares  the  downward  current. 
May,  June  and  July,  are  the  months  when  the  growth  is 
most  rapid,  and  when  the  tree  requires  the  most  elaborate 
sap  ;  and  in  these  months  the  blight  is  fully  developed. 
When  the  descending  fluid  reaches  the  point  where,  in  the 
previous  fall,  a  total  obstruction  had  taken  place,  it  is  as 
effectually  stopped  as  if  the  branch  were  girdled.  For  the 
sap  which  had  lodged  there  would,  by  the  winds  and  sun, 
be  entirely  dried.  This  would  not  be  the  case  if  the  sap 
was  good  and  the  vitality  of  the  wood  unimpaired ;  but 
where  the  sap  and  vessels  are  both  diseased,  the  sun  affects 
the  branch  on  the  tree  just  as  it  would  if  severed  and  lying 
on  the  ground.  There  will,  therefore,  be  found  on  the  tree, 
branches  with  spots  where  the  bark  is  dead  and  shrunk 
away  below  the  level  of  the  surrounding  bark;  an. I  at 
these  points  the  current  downward  is  wholly  stopped. 
Only  the  outward  part,  however,  is  dead,  while  the  albur- 
tuni),  or  sap-wood,  is  but  partially  injured.  Through  the 
alburnum,  then,  the  sap  from  the  roots  passes  up,  t 
the  leal',  ami  men  are  astonished  to  see  a  branch,  seemingly 
•  lead  in  the  mi. Idle,  growing  thriftily  at  its  extremity.  No 
insect-theory  can  account  for  this  case ;  yet  it  is  perfectly 
plain  and  simple  when  we  consider  that  there  are  two  cur- 


404  PLAIN   AND   PLEASANT  TALK 

rents  of  sap,  one  of  which  may  be  destroyed,  ami  the  other 
for  a  limited  time  go  on.  The  blight,  under  this  aspect,  is 
nothing  but  ringing  or  decortication,  effected  by  diseased 
sap,  destroying  the  parts  in  which  it  lodges,  and  then 
itself  drying  up.  The  branch  will  grow,  fruit  will  set, 
and  frequently  become  larger  and  finer  flavored  than 
usual. 

But  in  a  second  class  of  cases,  the  downward  current 
comes  to  a  point  where  the  diseased  sap  had  effected  only 
a  partial  lodgment.  The  vitality  of  the  neighboring  parts 
was  preserved,  and  the  diseased  fluids  have  been  undried 
by  wind  or  sun,  and  remain  more  or  less  inspissated.  The 
descending  current  meets  and  takes  up  more  or  less  of  this 
diseased  matter,  according  to  the  particular  condition  of  the 
sap.  Wherever  the  elaborated  sap  passes,  after  touching 
this  diseased  region,  it  will  carry  its  poison  along  with  it 
down  the  trunk,  and,  by  the  lateral  vessels,  in  toward  the 
pith.  We  may  suppose  that  a  violence  which  w^ould  destroy 
the  health  of  the  outer  parts,  would,  to  some  degree,  rup- 
ture the  inner  sap-vessels.  By  this,  or  by  some  unknown 
way,  the  diseased  sap  is  taken  into  the  inner,*  upward  cur- 
rent, and  goes  into  the  general  circulation.  If  it  be  in  a 
diluted  state,  or  in  small  quantities,  languor  and  decline  will 
be  the  result ;  if  in  large  quantities,  and  concentrated,  the 
branch  will  die  suddenly,  and  the  odor  of  it  will  be  that  of 
frost-bitten  vegetation.  All  the  different  degrees  of  mor- 
tality result  from  the  quantity  and  quality  of  the  diseased 
sap  which  is  taken  into  circulation.  In  conclusion,  then, 
where,  in  one  class  of  cases,  the  feculent  matter  wras,  in  the 
fall,  so  virulent  as  to  destroy  the  parts  where  it  lodged,  and 
was  then  dried  by  exposure  to  wind  and  sun,  the  branch 
above  will  live,  even  through  the  summer,  but  perish  the 
next  winter;  and  the  spring  afterward,  standing  bare  amid 
green  branches,  the  cultivator  may  suppose  the  branch  to 

*  See  Lindley,  p.  82. 


ABOUT  FRUITS,   FLOWERS    AND   FARMING.  405 

have  blighted  that  spring,  alth  >ugh  the  cause  of  death  was 
seated  eighteen  months  before.  When,  in  the  other  class 
of  cases,  the  diseased  sap  is  less  virulent  in  the  fall,  but 
probably  growing  worse  through  the  spring,  a  worse  blight 
ensues,  and  a  more  sudden  mortality. 

We  will  mention  some  proofs  of  the  truth  of  this  explana- 
tion. 

1.  The  two  great  blight  years  throughout  the  region  of 
Indianapolis,  1832  and  1844,  were  preceded  by  a  summer  and 
fall  such  as  we  have  described.     In  the  autumns  of  both 
1831  and  1843,  the  orchards  were  overtaken  by  a  sudden 
freeze  while  in  a  fresh-growing  state  ;  and  in  both  cases  the 
consequence  was  excessive  destruction  the  ensuing  spring 
and  summer. 

2.  In  consequence  of  this  diagnosis,  it  has  been  found 
practicable  to  predict  the  blight  six  months  before  its  devel- 
opment.   The  statement  of  tkis  fact,  on  paper,  may  seem 
a  small  measure  of  proof;  but  it  would  weigh  much  with 
any  candid  man  to  be  told,  by  an  experienced  nurseryman, 
this  is  such  a  fall  as  will  make  blight ;  to  be  taken,  during 
the  winter  into  the  orchard,  and  told,  this  tree  has  been 
struck  at  the  junction  of  these  branches ;  that  tree  is  not  at 
all  affected ;  this  tree  will  die  entirely  the  next  season  ;  this 
tree  will  go  first  on  this  side,  etc.,  and  to  find,  afterward, 
the  prediction  verified. 

3.  This  leads  us  to  state  separately,  the  fact,  that,  after 
such  a  fall,  blighted-trees  may  be  ascertained  during  the 
process  of  late  winter  or  early  spring  pruning. 

In  pruning  before  the  sap  begins  to  rise  freely,  no  sap 
should  follow  the  knife  in  a  healthy  tree.  But  in  trees 
which  have  been  affected  with  blight,  a  sticky,  viscid  sap 
exudes  from  the  wound. 

4.  Trees  which  ripen  their  wood  and  leaves  early,  are 
seldom  affected.    This  ought  to  elicit  careful  observation  ; 
for,  if  found  true,  it  will  be  an  important  element  in  deter 
mining  the  value  of  rarieties  of  the  pear  in  the  middle  and 


406  PLAIN  AND  PLEAS  A  XT  TALK 

western  States,  where  the  late  and  warm  autumns  render 
orehards  more  liable  to  winter  blight  than  New  England 
orchards.  An  Orange  Uergamot,  grafted  upon  an  apple 
stock,  had  about  run  out;  it  made  a  small  and  i'eeble  growth, 
and  cast  its  leaves  in  the  summer  of  1843,  long  before  frost. 
aped  the  blight  entirely;  while  young  treos,  and  of  the 
same  kind  (we  believe),  standing  about  it,  and  growing  vig- 
orously till  the  freeze,  perished  the  next  season.  I  have 
before  me  a  list  of  more  than  fifty  varieties,  growing  in  the 
orchard  of  Aaron  Alldredgc,  of  Indianapolis,  and  their  history 
since  1836  ;  and  so  far  as  it  can  be  ascertained,  late-grow- 
ing varieties  are  the  ones,  in  every  case,  subject  to  blight ; 
and  of  those  which  have  always  escaped,  the  most  part  arc 
known  to  ripen  leaf  and  wood  early. 

5.  Wherever  artificial  causes  have  either  produced  or 
prevented  a  growth  so  late  as  to  be  overtaken  by  a  freeze, 
blight  has,  respectively,  been  felt  or  avoided.  Out  of  200 
pear-trees,  only  four  escaped  in  1832,  in  the  orchard  of  Mr. 
Reagan.  These  four  had,  the  previous  spring,  been  trans- 
planted, and  had  made  little  or  no  growth  during  summer 
or  fall.  If,  however,  they  had  recovered  themselves,  dur- 
ing the  summer,  so  as  to  grow  in  the  autumn,  transplant- 
ing would  have  had  just  the  other  effect;  as  was  the  case 
in  a  row  of  pear-trees,  transplanted  by  Mr.  Alldredge  in 
1843.  They  stood  still  through  the  summer  and  made 
growth  in  the  fall — were  frozen — and  in  1844  manifested 
severe  blight.  Mr.  Alldredge's  orchard  affords  another 
instructive  fact.  Having  a  row  of  the  St.  Michael  pear  (of 
which  any  cultivator  might  have  been  proud),  standing 
close  by  his  stable,  he  was  accustomed,  in  the  summer  of 
1843,  to  throw  out,  now  and  then,  manure  about  them,  to 
force  their  growth.  Under  this  stimulus  they  were  making 
excessive  growth  when  winter-struck.  Of  all  his  orchard, 
they  suffered,  the  ensuing  summer,  the  most  severely.  Of 
twenty-two  trees  twelve  were  affected  by  the  blight,  and 
eight  entirely  killed.  Of  seventeen  trees  of  the  Bell  pear, 


ABOUT   FRUITS,    FLOWERS   AXD   FARMING.  407 

eleven  suffered,  but  none  were  killed.  All  in  this  region 
know  the  vigorous  habit  of  this  tree.  Of  eight  Crassune 
Bi'rgamot  (a  late  grower),  live  wore  affected  and  two 
killed.  In  an  orchard  of  325  trees  of  79  varieties,  one  in 
seven  blighted,  25  were  totally  destroyed.  Although  a 
minute  observation  was  not  made  on  each  tree,  yet,  as  a 
general  tact,  those  which  suffered  were  trees  of  a  full  habit 
and  of  a  late  growth. 

6.  Mr.  White,  a  nurseryman  near  Mooresville,  Morgan 
County,  Indiana,  in  an  orchard  of  from  150  to  200  trer<, 
had  not  a  single  case  of  the  blight  in  the  year  1844,  though 
all  around  him  its  ravages  were  felt.     What  were  the  facts 
in  this  case  ?     His  orchard  is  planted  on  a  mound-like  piece 
of  ground  ;  is  high,  of  a  sandy,  gravelly  soil :  earlier  by  a 
week  than  nursery  soils  in  this  county ;  and  in  the  summer 
of  1843  his  trees  grew  through  the   summer;   wound  up 
and  shed  their  leaves  early  in  the  fall,  and  during  the  warm 
spell  made   no   second  growth.     The  orchard,  then,  that 
escaped,  was  one  on  such  a  soil  as  insured  an  early  growth, 
so  that  the  winter  fell  upon  ripened  wood. 

7.  It  may  be  objected,  that  if  the  blight  began  in  the  new 
and  growing  wood,  it  would   appear  there ;   whereas  the 
seat  of  the  evil,  i.  e.  the  place  where  the  bark  is  diseased 
or  dead,  is  lower  down  and  on  old  wood.      Certainly,  it 
should  be;    for  the   returning  sap  falls  some  ways   down 
before  it  effects  a  lodgment. 

8.  It  might  be  said  that  spring-frosts  might  produce  this 
disease.     But  in  the   spring  of  1834,  in  the  last  of  May, 
after  the  forest-trees  were  in  full  leaf,  there  came  frost  so 
severe  as  to  cut  every  leaf;  and  to  this  day  the  dead  tops 
of  the  beech  attest  the  power  of  the  frost.     But  no  blight 
occurred  that  year  in  orchard,  garden  or  nursery. 

9.  It  may  be  asked  why  forest-trees  do  not  suffer.    To 
some  extent  they  do.      But  usually  the  dense  shade  pre- 
serves the  moisture  of  the  soil,  and  favors  an  equal  growth 
during  the  spring  and  summer ;  so  that  the  excitability  of 


408  PLAIN   AND   PLEASANT    TAXK 

the  tree  is  spent  before  autumn,  and  it  is  going  to  rest 
when  frost  strikes  it. 

10.  It  may  be  inquired  why  fall-growing  shrubs  are  not 
always  blighted,  since  many  kinds  are  invariably  caught  by 
the  frost  in  a  growing  state. 

We  reply,  first,  that  we  are  not  to  say  that  every  tree  or 
shrub  suffers  from  cold  in  the  same  manner.  We  assert  it 
of  fruit-trees  because  it  has  been  observed;  it  must  be 
asserted  of  other  trees  only  when  ascertained. 

We  reply  more  particularly,  that  a  mere  frost  is  not  sup- 
posed to  do  the  injury.  The  conditions  under  which  blight 
is  supposed  to  originate  are,  a  growing  state  of  the  tree,  a 
sudden  freeze,  and  sudden  thawing. 

We  would  here  add,  that  many  things  are  yet  to  be 
ascertained  before  this  theory  can  be  considered  as  settled  ; 
as  the  actual  state  of  the  sap  after  congelation,  ascertained 
by  experiment ;  the  condition  of  sap-vessels,  as  ascertained 
by  dissection ;  whether  the  congelation,  or  the  thawing,  or 
both,  produce  the  mischief;  whether  the  character  of  the 
season  following  the  fall-injury  may  not  materially  modify 
the  malignancy  of  the  disease ;  seasons  that  are  hot,  moist 
and  cloudy,  propagating  the  evil ;  and  others  dry,  and  cool, 
restraining  growth  and  the  dsease.  It  is  to  be  hoped  that 
these  points  will  be  carefully  investigated,  not  by  conjec- 
ture, but  by  scientific  processes. 

11.  We  have  heard  it  objected,  that  trees  grafted  in  the 
spring  blight  in  the  graft  during  the  summer.     If  the  stock 
had  been  affected  in  the  fall,  blight  would  arise  from  it ;  if 
the  scion  had,  in  common  with  the  tree  from  which  it  was 
cut,  been  injured,  blight  must  arise  from  it. 

Blight  is  frequently  caused  in  the  nursery ;  and  the  cul- 
tivator, who  has  brought  trees  from  a  distance,  and  with 
much  expense,  has  scarcely  planted  them  before  they  show 
blight  and  die. 

12.  It  is  objected,  that  while  only  a  single  branch  is  at 
first  affected,  the  evil  is  imparted  to  the  whole  tree ;  not 


ABOUT  FRUITS,   FLOWERS   AND  FARMING.  409 

only  to  tne  wood  of  the  last  year,  but  to  the  old  branches. 
We  reply,  that  if  a  single  branch  only  snould  be  affected  by 
fall-frost,  and  be  so  severely  affected  as  to  become  a  reposi- 
tory of  much  malignant  fluid,  it  might  gradually  enter  the 
system  of  the  whole  tree,  through  the  circulation.  This 
fact  shows,  why  cutting  is  a  partial  remedy ;  every  diseased 
branch  removed,  removes  so  much  poison ;  it  shows  also 
why  cutting  from  below  the  seat  of  the  disease  (as  if  to  fall 
below  the  haunt  of  a  supposed  insect),  is  beneficial.  The 
further  the  cut  is  made  from  that  point  where  the  sap  has 
clogged  the  passages,  the  less  of  it  will  remain  to  enter  the 
circulation. 

13.  Trees  of  great  vigor  of  constitution,  in  whose  system 
but  little  poison  exists,  may  succeed  after  a  while  in  reject- 
ing the  evil,  and  recover.    Where  much  enters  the  system, 
the  tree  must  die  ;  and  with  a  suddenness  proportioned  to 
the  amount  of  poison  circulated. 

14.  A  rich  and  dry  soil  would  be  likely  to  promote  early 
growth,  and  the  tree  would  finish  its  work  in  time ;  but  a 
rich  and  moist  soil,  by  forcing  the  growth,  would  prepare 
the  tree  for  blight ;  so  that  rich  soils  may  prevent  or  pre- 
pare for  the  blight,  and  the  difference  will  be  the  difference 
of  the  respective  soils  in  producing  an  early  instead  of  a  late 
growth. 

IV.  REMEDY. — So  long  as  the  blight  was  believed  to  be 
of  insect  origin,  it  appeared  totally  irremediable.  If  the  fore- 
going reasoning  be  found  correct,  it  will  be  plain  that  the 
scourge  can  only  be  occasional ;  that  it  may  be  in  a  degree 
prevented  ;  and  to  some  extent  remedied  where  it  exists. 

1.  We  should  begin  by  selecting  for  pear  orchards  a 
warm,  light,  rich,  dry  and  early  soil.    This  will  secure  an 
early  growth  and  ripe  wood  before  winter  sets  in. 

2.  So  soon  as  observation  has  determined  what  kinds  are 
naturally  early  growers  and  early  ripeners  of  wood,  such 
should  be  selected;  as  they  will  be  least  likely  to  come 
under  those  conditions  in  which  blight  occur* 

18 


410  PLAIN  AND  PLEASANT  TALK 

3.  Wherever  orchards  are  already  planted ;  or  where  a 
choice  in  soils  cannot  be  had,  the  cultivator  may  know  by 
the  last  of  August  or  September,  whether  a  fall-growth  is 
to  be  expected.    To  prevent  it,  we  suggest  immediate  root- 
pruning.     This  will   benefit  the  tree  at  any   rate,   and 
will  probably,  by  immediately  restraining  growth,  prevent 
blight. 

4.  Whenever  blight  has  occurred,  we  know  of  no  remedy 
but  free  and  early  cutting.    In  some  cases  it  will  remove 
all  diseased  matter ;  in  some  it  will  alleviate  only ;  but  in 
bad  blight,  there  is  neither  in  this,  nor  in  anything  else  that 
we  are  aware  of,  any  remedy. 

There  are  two  additional  subjects,  with  which  we  shall 
close  this  paper. 

1.  This  blight  is  not  to  be  confounded  with  winter-kill- 
ing.    In  the  whiter  of  either  1837  or  1838,  in  March  a  deep 
Bnow  fell  (in  the  region  of  Indianapolis)  and  was  immediately 
followed  by  brilliant  sun.     Thousands  of  nursery-trees  per- 
ished in  consequence,  but  without  putting  out  leaves,  or 
lingering.     It  is  a  familiar  fact  to  orchardists,  that  severe 
cold,  followed  by  warm  suns,  produce  a  bursting  of  the 
bark  along  the  trunk ;  but  usually  at  the  surface  of  the 
ground. 

2.  We  call  the  attention  of  cultivators  to  the  disease  of 
the  peach-tree,  called  "  The  Yellows."    We  have  not  spoken 
of  it  as  the  same  disease  as  the  blight  in  the  pear  and  the 
apple,  only  because  we  did  not  wish  to  embarrass  this  sub- 
ject by  too  many  issues.     We  will  only  say,  that  it  is  the 
opinion  of  the  most  intelligent  cultivators  among  us,  that 
the  yellows  are  nothing  but  the  development  of  the  blight 
according  to  the  peculiar  habits  of  the  peach-tree.   We  men- 
tion it,  that  observation  may  be  directed  to  the  facts. 


ABOUT  FRUITS,   FLOWERS   AND   FARMING.  411 


PROGRESS    OF    HORTICULTURE    IN    INDIANA.* 

I  AM  induced  to  send  you  some  remarks  upon  Horticul- 
tural matters,  from  observing  your  disposition  to  make  your 
magazine  not  merely  a  record  of  specific  processes,  and  a 
register  of  plants  and  fruits,  but  also  a  chronicle  of  the 
yearly  progress  and  condition  of  the  Horticultural  art.  I 
should  be  glad  if  I  could  in  any  degree  thus  repay  the  pleas- 
ure which  others  have  given  me  through  your  numbers,  by 
reciprocal  efforts. 

The  Indiana  Horticultural  State  fair  is  held  annually,  on 
the  4th  and  5th  of  October.  Experience  has  shown  that  it 
should  be  earlier ;  for,  although  a  better  assortment  of  late 
fruits,  in  which,  hitherto,  we  have  chiefly  excelled,  is  se- 
cured, it  is  at  the  expense  of  small  fruits  and  flowers.  The 
floral  exhibition  was  meagre — the  frost  having  already  visit- 
ed and  despoiled  our  gardens.  The  chief  attraction,  as,  in 
an  agricultural  community,  it  must  long  continue  to  be,  was 
the  exhibition  of  fruit.  My  recollection  of  New  England 
fruits,  after  an  absence  of  more  than  ten  years,  is  not  dis- 
tinct ;  but  my  impression  is,  that  so  fine  a  collection  of  fruits 
could  scarcely  be  shown  there.  The  luxuriance  of  the  peach, 
the  plum,  the  pear  and  the  apple,  is  such,  in  this  region,  as 
to  afford  the  most  perfect  possible  specimens.  The  vigor 
of  fruit-trees,  in  such  a  soil  and  under  a  heaven  so  conge- 
nial, produces  fruits  which  are  very  large-  without  being 
coarse-fleshed  ;  the  flavor  concentrated,  and  the  color  very 
high.  It  is  the  constant  remark  of  emigrants  from  the 
East,  that  our  apples  surpass  those  to  which  they  have  been 
accustomed.  Many  fruits  which  I  remember  in  Connecticut 
as  light-colored,  appear  with  us  almost  refulgent.  All  sum- 
11  MM  ;md  early  fall  apples  were  gone  before  our  exhibition; 
but  between  seventy  and  a  hundred  varieties  of  winter  ap- 


*  A  letter  published  in  Hovey'e  Magazine  of  Horticulture,  February, 
1845. 


412  PLAIN  AND  PLEASANT  TALK 

pies  were  exhibited.  We  never  expect  to  see  finer.  Our 
most  popular  winter  apples  ars :  Yellow  Bellflower ;  White 
Jiellrtower  (called  Detroit  by  the  gentlemen  of  Cincinnati 
Horticultural  Society — but  for  reasons  which  are  not  satisfac- 
tory to  my  mind.  What  has  become  of  the  White  Belli!  own- 
of  Coxe,  if  this  is  not  it?)  Newtown  Spitzenberg,  exceed- 
ingly fine  with  us;  Canfield,  Jennetting  or  Neverfail,  escap- 
ing spring  frosts  by  late  blossoming,  very  hardy,  a  givat 
bearer  every  year ;  the  fruit  comes  into  eating  in  February, 
is  tender,  juicy,  mild  and  sprightly,  and  preferred  witli  us 
to  the  Green  Newtown  pippin — keeping  full  as  well,  bearing 
better,  the  pulp  much  more  manageable  in  the  mouth,  ami 
the  apple  has  the  peculiar  property  of  bearing  frosts,  and 
even  freezing,  without  material  injury;  Green  Newtown 
pippin;  Michael  Henry  pippin  (very  fine);  Pryor's  Red, 
in  flavor  resembling  the  New  England  Seek-no-further ; 
Golden  Russet,  the  prince  of  small  apples,  and  resembling  a 
fine  butter-pear  more  nearly  than  any  apple  in  our  orchards 
— an  enormous  bearer ;  some  limbs  exhibited  were  clustered 
with  fruit,  more  like  bunches  of  grapes  than  apples ;  Milam, 
favorite  early  winter ;  Rambo,  the  same.  But  the  apple 
most  universally  cultivated  is  the  Vandervere  pippin,  only  a 
second  or  third-rate  table  apple,  but  having  other  qualities 
which  quite  ravish  the  hearts  of  our  farmers.  The  tree  is 
remarkably  vigorous  and  healthy ;  it  almost  never  fails  in  a 
crop ;  when  all  others  miss,  the  Vandervere  pippin  hits;  the 
fruit,  which  is  very  large  and  comely,  is  a  late  winter  fruit — 
yet  swells  so  quickly  as  to  be  the  first  and  best  summer 
cooking  apple.  If  its  flesh  (which  is  coarse)  were  fine,  and 
its  (too  sharp)  flavor  equalled  that  of  the  Golden  Russet,  it 
would  stand  without  a  rival,  or  near  neighbor,  at  the  very 
head  of  the  list  of  winter  apples.  As  it  is,  it  is  a  first-rate 
tree,  bearing  a  second-rate  apple.  A  hybrid  between  it 
and  the  Golden  Russet,  or  Newtown  Spitzenberg,  appropri- 
ating the  virtues  of  both,  would  leave  little  more  to  b*e" 
hoped  for  or  wished.  The  Baldwin  has  never  come  up  to 


ABOUT  FRUITS,   FLOWEES  AND  FARMING.  413 

its  eastern  reputation  with  us  ;  the  Rhode  Island  Greening 
IN  <  iten  for  the  sake  of  "auld  lang  syne;"  the  Roxbury 
russet  is  not  yet  in  bearing — instead  of  it  several  false 
varieties  have  been  presented  at  our  exhibitions.  All  the 
classic  apples  of  your  orchards  are  planted  here,  but  are 
yet  on  probation. 

Nothing  can  exhibit  better  the  folly  of  trusting  to  seed- 
ling orchards  for  fruit,  for  a  main  supply,  than  our  experi- 
ence in  this  matter.  The  early  settlers  could  not  bring 
trees  from  Kentucky,  Virginia  or  Pennsylvania — and,  as 
the  next  resort,  brought  and  planted  seeds  of  popular  ap- 
ples. A  later  population  found  no  nurseries  to  supply  the 
awakening  demand  for  fruit-trees,  and  resorted  also  to  plant- 
ing seed.  That  which,  at  first,  sprang  from  necessity,  has 
been  continued  from  habit,  and  from  an  erroneous  opinion 
that  seedling  fruit  was  better  than  grafted.  An  immense 
number  of  seedling  trees  are  found  in  our  State.  Since  the 
Indiana  Horticultural  Society  began  to  collect  specimens  of 
these,  more  than  one  hundred  and  fifty  varieties  have  been 
sent  up  for  inspection.  Our  rule  is  to  reject  every  apple 
which,  the  habits  of  the  tree  and  the  quality  of  its  fruit 
being  considered,  has  a  superior  or  equal  already  in  cultiva- 
tion. Of  all  the  number  presented,  not  six  have  vindicated 
their  claims  to  a  name  or  a  place — and  not  more  than  three 
will  probably  be  known  ten  years  hence.  While,  then,  we 
encourage  cultivators  to  raise  seedlings  experimentally,  it 
is  the  clearest  folly  to  reject  the  established  varieties  and 
trust  to  inferior  seedling  orchards.  From  facts  which  I  have 
collected  there  has  been  planted,  during  the  past  year,  in 
this  State,  at  least  one  hundred  thousand  apple-trees.  Every 
year  the  demand  increases.  It  is  supposed  that  the  next 
year  will  surpass  this  by  at  least  twenty-five  thousand. 

In  connection  with  apple  orchards,  our  formers  are 
increasingly  zealous  in  pear  cultivation.  We  are  fortunate 
in  having  secured  to  our  nurseries  not  only  the  most  ap- 
proved old  varieties,  but  the  choicest  new  pears  of  British, 


414  PLAIN  AND   PLEASANT  TALK 

Continental  or  American  origin.  A  few  years  ago  to 
one  hundred  apple-trees,  our  nurseries  sold,  perhaps,  two 
]uai -trees;  now  they  sell  at  least  twenty  to  a  hundred. 
Very  large  pear  orchards  are  established,  and  in  some  in- 
stances are  now  beginning  to  bear.  I  purchased  Williams's 
Bon  Chretien  in  our  market  last  fall  for  seventy-five  cents 
the  bushel.  This  pear,  with  the  St.  Michael's,  Beurre  Diel, 
Beurre  d'Aremberg,  Passe  Colmar,  Duchesse  d'AngoultJmc, 
Seckel,  and  Marie  Louise,  are  the  most  widely  diffused,  and 
all  of  them  regularly  at  our  exhibitions.  Every  year  ena- 
bles us  to  test  other  varieties.  The  Passe  Colmar  and 
Beurre  d'Aremberg  have  done  exceedingly  well — a  branch 
of  the  latter,  about  eighteen  inches  in  length,  was  exhib- 
ited at  our  Fair,  bearing  over  twenty  pears,  none  of  which 
were  smaller  than  a  turkey's  egg.  The  demand  for  pear- 
trees,  this  year,  has  been  such  that  our  nurseries  have  not 
been  able  to  answer  it — and  they  are  swept  almost  entirely 
clean.  I  may  as  well  mention  here  that,  beside  many  more 
neighborhood  nurseries,  there  are  in  this  State  eighteen 
which  are  large  and  skillfully  conducted. 

The  extraordinary  cheapness  of  trees  favors  their  general 
cultivation.  Apple-trees,  not  under  ten  feet  high,  and  finely 
grown,  sell  at  ten,  and  pears  at  twenty  cents ;  and  in  some 
nurseries,  apples  may  be  had  at  six  cents.  This  price,  it 
should  be  recollected,  is  in  a  community  where  corn  brings 
from  twelve  to  twenty  cents  only,  a  bushel ;  wheat  sells 
from  forty-five  to  fifty ;  hay  at  five  dollars  the  ton.  During 
the  season  of  1843-'44,  apples  of  the  finest  sorts  (Jennetting, 
green  Newtown  pippin,  etc.),  sold  at  my  door,  as  late  as 
April,  for  twenty-five  cents  a  bushel — and  dull  at  that.  This 
winter  they  command  thirty-seven  cents.  Attention  is  in- 
creasingly turned  to  the  cultivation  of  apples  for  exporta- 
tion. Our  inland  orchards  will  soon  find  an  outlet,  both  to 
the  Ohio  River  by  railroad,  and  the  Lakes  by  canal.  The 
effects  of  such  a  deluge  of  fruit  is  worthy  of  some  spi'c.iiln- 
tion.  It  will  diminish  the  price  but  increase  the  profit  of 


ABOUT   FBUITS,    FLOWEBS   AKU    FAKMING.  415 

fruit.  An  analogous  case  is  seen  in  the  penny-postage  sys- 
tem of  England.  Fruit  will  become  more  generally  and 
largely  an  article,  not  of  luxury,  but  of  daily  and  ordinary 
diet.  It  will  find  its  way  down  to  the  poorest  table — and 
the  quantity  consumed  will  make  up  in  profit  to  the  dealer, 
what  is  lost  in  lessening  its  price.  A  few  years  and  the, 
apple  crop  will  be  a  matter  of  reckoning  by  fanners  and 
speculators,  just  as  is  now,  the  potato  crop,  the  wheat  crop, 
the  pork,  etc.  Nor  will  it  create  a  home  market  alone. 
By  care  it  may  be  exported  with  such  facility,  that  the 
world  will  receive  it  as  a  part  of  its  diet.  It  will,  in  thib 
respect,  follow  the  history  of  grains  and  edible  roots,  and 
from  a  local  and  limited  use,  the  apple  and  the  pear  *ill 
become  articles  of  universal  demand.  The  reasons  of  «ach 
an  opinion  are  few  and  simple.  It  is  a  fruit  always  jwilat- 
able — and  as  such,  will  be  welcome  to  mankind  whawver 
their  tastes,  if  it  can  be  brought  within  their  reach.  The 
western  States  will,  before  many  years,  be  forested  with 
orchards.  The  fruit  bears  exportation  kindly.  Thus  there 
will  be  a  supply;  a  possibility  of  distributing  it  by  com- 
merce, to  meet  a  taste  already  existing.  These  views  may 
seem  fanciful — may  prove  so ;  but  they  are  analogical. 
Nor,  if  I  inherit  my  three  score  years  and  ten,  do  I  expect 
to  die,  until  the  apple  crop  of  the  United  States  shall  sur- 
pass the  potato  crop  in  value,  both  for  man  and  beast.  It 
has  the  double  quality  of  palatableness,  raw  or  cooked — it 
is  a  permanent  crop,  not  requiring  annual  planting — and  it 
produces  more  bushels  to  the  acre  than  corn,  wheat,  or,  on 
an  average,  than  potatoes.  The  calculations  may  be  made, 
allowing  an  average  of  fifteen  bushels  to  a  tree.  The  same 
reasoning  is  true  of  the  pear ;  it  and  the  apple,  are  to  hold 
a  place  yet,  as  universal  eatables — a  fruit-grain^  not  known 
in  their  past  history.  If  not  another  tree  should  be 
this  county  (Marion  County),  in  ten  years  the  annual  crop 
of  apples  will  be  200,000  bushels.  But  Wayne  County  has 
double  our  number  of  trees ;  suppose,  however,  the  ninety 


1  1  •'  PLAIN   AND  PLEASANT  TALK 

counties  of  Indiana  to  have  only  25  trees  to  a  quarter  sec- 
tion of  land,  i.  e.  to  each  160  acres,  the  crop,  of  fifteen  bush- 
rl>  a  tree,  would  be  nearly  two  millions. 

The  past  year  has  greatly  increased  the  cultivation  of 
small  fruits  in  the  State.  Strawberries  are  found  in  almost 
every  garden,  and  of  select  socts.  None  among  them  all  is 
more  popular — or  more  deservedly  so — than  Hovey's  Si-i-il- 
ling.  We  have  a  native  white  strawberry,  removed  from 
our  meadows  to  our  gardens,  which  produces  fruit  of  supe- 
rior fragrance  and  flavor.  The  crop  is  not  large — but  con- 
tinues gradually  ripening  for  many  weeks.  The  blackberry 
is  introduced  to  the  garden  among  us.  The  fruit  sells  at 
our  market  for  from  three  to  five  cents — profit  is  not  there- 
fore the  motive  for  cultivating  it,  but  improvement.  I  have1 
a  white  variety.  "  What  color  is  a  Wac&-berry  when  it  is 
green  f  "  We  used  to  say  red,  but  now  we  have  ripe  black- 
berries  which  are  white,  and  green  Wac&-berries  which  are 
red.  Assorted  gooseberries  and  the  new  raspberries,  Fran- 
conia  and  Fastolff  are  finding  their  way  into  our  gardens. 
The  Antwerps  we  have  long  had  in  abundance.  If  next 
spring  I  can  produce  rhubarb  weighing  two  pounds  t«  the 
stalk,  shall  I  have  surpassed  you  ?  I  have  a  seedling  which 
last  year,  without  good  cultivation,  produced  petioles  weigh- 
ing from  eighteen  to  twenty  ounces.  My  wrist  is  not  ?ery 
delicate,  and  yet  it  is  much  smaller  in  girth  than  they  were. 

In  no  department  is  there  more  decided  advance  among 
our  citizens  than  in  floriculture.  In  all  our  rising  towns, 
yards  and  gardens  are  to  be  found  choicely  stocked.  All 
hardy  bulbs  are  now  sought  after.  Ornamental  shrub*  are 
taken  from  our  forests,  or  imported  from  abroad,  in  great 
variety.  Altheas,  rose  acacia,  jasmin,  calycanthus,  snow- 
berry,  snowball,  sumach,  syringas,  spicewood,  shepherdia, 
dogwood,  redwood,  and  other  hardy  shrubs  abound.  The 
rose  is  an  especial  favorite.  The  Bengal,  Tea  and  Noisettes 
bear  our  winters  in  the  open  garden  with  but  slight  protec- 
tion. The  Bourbon  and  Remontantes  will,  however,  driv« 


ABOUT   FRUITS,   FLOWERS   AND  FARMING.  417 

out  all  old  and  ordinary  varieties.  The  gardens  of  this 
town  would  afford  about  sixty  varieties  of  roses,  which 
would  be  reckoned  first  rate  in  Boston  or  Philadelphia. 

While  New  England  suffered  under  a  season  of  drought, 
on  this  side  of  the  mountains  the  season  was  uncommonly 
fine — scarcely  a  week  elapsed  without  copious  showers,  and 
gardens  remained  moist  the  whole  season.  Fruits  ripened 
from  two  to  three  weeks  earlier  than  usual.  In  conse- 
quence of  this,  winter  fruits  are  rapidly  decaying.  To-day 
is  Christmas,  the  weather  is  spring-like — no  snow — the  ther- 
mometer this  morning,  forty  degrees.  My  Noisettes  retain 
their  terminal  leaves  green ;  and  in  the  southward-looking 
dells  of  the  woods,  grasses  and  herbs  are  yet  of  a  vivid , 
green.  Birds  are  still  here — three  this  morning  were  sing- 
ing on  the  trees  in  my  yard.  There  are  some  curious  facts 
in  the  early  history  of  horticulture  in  this  region,  which  I 
meant  to  have  included  in  this  communication ;  but  insen- 
sibly I  have,  already,  prolonged  it  beyond,  I  fear,  a  conve- 
nient space  for  your  magazine.  I  yield  it  to  you  for  cut- 
ting, carving,  suppressing,  or  whatever  other  operation  will 
fit  it  for  your  purpose. 


BROWNE'S    AMERICAN     POULTRY    YARD.* 

LET  no  man  turn  up  his  contemptuous  nose  at  this  Trea- 
tise until  he  has  traced  the  manifold  relations  of  eggs  and 
capons  to  cake,  company,  and  civilization.  Banish  the  barn- 
yard, and  the  universal  aldermanhood  would  shrink  and 
grow  lean ;  cup-cakes  and  sponge-cakes,  omelets,  whips  and 
legionary  confections,  would  become  mere  dreams  of  re- 
membrance. 

Every  friend  of  the  trencher,  every  notable  housewife, 

*  Published  by  A.  0.  Moore  &  Co.,  New  York.    Price  $1  00. 


418  PLAIN  AND   PLEASANT  TALK 

complacently  glorious  amidst  stacks  of  praised  and  devoured 
cake,  has  an  interest  in  this  book.  There  is,  therefore,  a 
certain  interest  which  every  civilized  community  should 
take  in  the  progress  of  the  great  art  of  fowl-breeding. 

There  are  striking  analogies,  also,  which  should  be  noticed 
by  every  comparative  psychologist.  The  doctrine  of  trans- 
migration has  some  of  its  strongest  proofs  in  the  Kingdom 
of  Poultry.  The  glowing  comb,  the  haughty  carriage,  the 
resplendent  tail-feathers,  and  ostentatious  crowing  of  the 
lord  of  the  barn-yard  creation,  reveals  to  the  sagacious 
reasoner  either  the  origin  or  destination  of  many  other 
"  lords  of  creation." 

Nor  can  one  mistake  the  resemblances  traceable  in  the 
gentler  sex  of  hens.  Some  there  are  industrious  only  in 
scratching  and  cackling,  but  nervous,  gadding,  restless ; 
never  content  at  home,  never  so  happy  as  when  at  work  in 
a  new-made  garden,  and  sagacious  always  of  the  very  spots 
which  are  most  precious  in  the  owner's  eyes.  Are  these 
the  types  of  human  busybodies,  or  are  these  resemblances 
only  accidental?  Others  are  discreet,  domestic,  prolific* 
useful  and  happy  hens,  human  and  feathered.  Many  there 
are  neglectful.  Some  fowls  are  laborious  egg-layers,  but 
poor  setters ;  others  disdain  the  pains  of  laying,  but  are 
quite  willing  of  a  leisure  summer's  month  to  set  awhile 
upon  other  eggs. 

In  the  management,  too,  of  their  families,  can  any  can- 
did man  resist  the  evidence  of  resemblances  and  affiliations 
between  hens  and  humanity  ?  Here  a  hen  walks  forth 
from  her  nest  with  but  a  single  chick ;  the  whole  farm  is 
too  small  for  her  anxious  spirit.  On  this  one  precious 
pledge  she  bestows  more  clucking,  more  research  and 
scratching,  than  a  discreet  old  matron  of  many  broods 
would  upon  five  annual  generations !  And  after  all,  what 
is  the  little  brat  good  for — lazy  and  worked  for,  but  never 
taught  to  work,  it  lives  a  few  months  petted  and  spoiled — 
dies  of  neglect,  or  is  anatomized  by  some  science-loving 


ABOUT  FRUITS,   FLO  WEES   AND   FARMING.  419 

weasel !  Other,  and  unnatural  hens  there  are,  to  whom 
the  vast  brood  of  peeping,  chirping  chicks  is  but  a  burden. 
They  seem  to  have  thoughts  of  their  own,  and  are  per- 
plexed and  interrupted  by  the  cares  needful  for  their 
household.  Could  we  pry  into  the  secrets  of  this  race, 
doubtless  there  would  be  found  to  be  literary  mothers,  too 
busy  for  the  general  good  to  hare  much  time  for  special 
duties.  We  cannot  stop  now  to  draw  out  these  analogies, 
so  well  worthy  the  study  of  mental  philosophers ;  else  we 
should  exhibit  the  distinctions  of  rank,  race,  and  culture,  in 
this  interesting  kingdom.  There  are  nice  questions  of 
pedigree,  there  are  points  in  relation  to  feathers  and  top- 
knots, combs  and  spurs,  tail-feathers  and  wing-feathers, 
neck-hackles  and  toes,  which  are  worthy  the  attention  of 
any  Calhoun  of  the  barn-yard.  The  more  savory  but 
homely  considerations  of  fattening,  slaying,  dressing,  sell- 
ing, stuffing,  cooking,  carving,  distributing,  eating  and 
digestion,  must  be  left  to  our  readers'  own  reflections. 
Meanwhile,  any  man  that  owns  a  hen,  or  has  a  coop  in 
prospect,  may  buy  this  book,  certain  of  his  money's  worth. 
Book-farming  and  book-fowling  are  better  than  nothing. 


REFLECTIONS    ON    THE    CLOSE    OF    THE   YEAR.* 

THE  labor  of  another  year  has  passed  beyond  our  reach. 
We  can  alter  nothing,  and  the  past  is  of  no  use  to  us  except 
as  a  lesson  for  the  future.  The  soil  that  the  plow  ripped 
up,  in  the  spring,  has  yielded  its  harvest,  its  work  is  closed, 
its  fruits  garnered.  The  tree  whose  boughs  grew  green 
when  the  singing  of  birds  proclaimed  that  spring  was  come, 
lias  ripened  its  fruit,  perfected  its  growth,  its  store  is 
gathered,  and  its  leaves  are  lying  beneath  it,  and  slowly 

•  A.D.  1846. 


420  PLAIN  AND  PLEASANT  TALK 

returning  to  the  earth  from  which  they  sprang.  Only  here 
:md  there,  on  a  bright  morning,  do  we  see  one  of  those 
birds  which,  a  few  months  ago,  builded  their  nest,  watched 
their  young,  or  taught  the  nestlings  how  to  fly — young  and 
old,  with  their  grace  of  motion  and  sweet  notes,  are  gone 
to  a  fairer  clime.  These  changes  one  cannot  help  noticing ; 
and  no  meditative  mind  can  avoid  many  thoughts  which 
flow  out  of  them.  Where  are  the  harvests  garnered  which 
grow  in  the  soil  of  the  human  heart  ?  What  thoughts  and 
generous  purposes  have  been  ripened  and  stored  up  like 
fruit,  and  what  ones  have  fallen  and  perished  like  leaves  ? 
Our  vernal  orchards  never  stood,  within  our  remembrance, 
in  such  a  glory  of  bloom ;  yet  when  the  fruit'  should  have 
set,  most  of  the  blossoms  proved  vain.  And  how  many 
good  purposes  and  fair  resolutions  have  so  perished  within 
us !  Have  we,  like  the  trees  which  we  love  and  care  for, 
made  growth,  of  root  and  branch  ?  Everything  in  nature 
has  gradually  assumed  a  preparation  for  winter.  Those 
frosts  and  that  ice  which  would  have  sent  such  mischief 
upon  the  leaves  of  summer,  now  lie,  without  harm,  upon 
orchard  and  garden.  Are  we  ripe  and  ready,  too,  for  such 
a  winter  as  adversity  brings  upon  men  ? 


THE    END. 


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